New Mouse Model for Chronic Infections by Gram-Negative Bacteria Enabling the Study of Anti-Infective Efficacy and Host-Microbe Interactions

PubMed Central

Pletzer, Daniel; Mansour, Sarah C.; Wuerth, Kelli; Rahanjam, Negin

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Only a few, relatively cumbersome animal models enable long-term Gram-negative bacterial infections that mimic human situations, where untreated infections can last for weeks. Here, we describe a simple murine cutaneous abscess model that enables chronic or progressive infections, depending on the subcutaneously injected bacterial strain. In this model, Pseudomonas aeruginosa cystic fibrosis epidemic isolate LESB58 caused localized high-density skin and soft tissue infections and necrotic skin lesions for up to 10 days but did not disseminate in either CD-1 or C57BL/6 mice. The model was adapted for use with four major Gram-negative nosocomial pathogens, Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter cloacae, and Escherichia coli. This model enabled noninvasive imaging and tracking of lux-tagged bacteria, the influx of activated neutrophils, and production of reactive oxygen-nitrogen species at the infection site. Screening antimicrobials against high-density infections showed that local but not intravenous administration of gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, and meropenem significantly but incompletely reduced bacterial counts and superficial tissue dermonecrosis. Bacterial RNA isolated from the abscess tissue revealed that Pseudomonas genes involved in iron uptake, toxin production, surface lipopolysaccharide regulation, adherence, and lipase production were highly upregulated whereas phenazine production and expression of global activator gacA were downregulated. The model was validated for studying virulence using mutants of more-virulent P. aeruginosa strain PA14. Thus, mutants defective in flagella or motility, type III secretion, or siderophore biosynthesis were noninvasive and suppressed dermal necrosis in mice, while a strain with a mutation in the bfiS gene encoding a sensor kinase showed enhanced invasiveness and mortality in mice compared to controls infected with wild-type P. aeruginosa PA14. PMID:28246361

Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Based Reflex Color Reflective Displays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khan, Asad

2012-02-01

Bistable color cholesteric liquid crystal displays are unique LCDs that exhibit high reflectivity, good contrast, extremely low power operation, and are amenable to versatile roll-to-roll manufacturing. The display technology, now branded as Reflex has been in commercialized products since 1996. It has been the subject of extensive research and development globally by a variety of parties in both academic and industrial settings. Today, the display technology is in volume production for applications such as dedicated eWriters (Boogie Board), full color electronic skins (eSkin), and displays for smart cards. The flexibility comes from polymerization induced phase separation using unique materials unparalleled in any other display technology. The blend of monomers, polymers, cross linkers, and other components along with nematic liquid crystals and chiral dopants is created and processed in such ways so as to enable highly efficient manufactrable displays using ultra thin plastic substrates -- often as thin as 50μm. Other significant aspects include full color by stacking or spatial separation, night vision capability, ultra high resolution, as well as active matrix capabilities. Of particular note is the stacking approach of Reflex based displays to show full color. This approach for reflective color displays is unique to this technology. Owing to high transparency in wavelength bands outside the selective reflection band, three primarily color layers can be stacked on top of each other and reflect without interfering with other layers. This highly surprising architecture enables the highest reflectivity of any other reflective electronic color display technology. The optics, architecture, electro-topics, and process techniques will be discussed. This presentation will focus on the physics of the core technology and color, it's evolution from rigid glass based displays to flexible displays, development of products from the paradigm shifting concepts to consumer products and related markets. This is a development that spans a wide space of highly technical development and fundamental science to products and commercialization to enable the entry of the technology into consumer markets.

The use of coded PCR primers enables high-throughput sequencing of multiple homolog amplification products by 454 parallel sequencing.

PubMed

Binladen, Jonas; Gilbert, M Thomas P; Bollback, Jonathan P; Panitz, Frank; Bendixen, Christian; Nielsen, Rasmus; Willerslev, Eske

2007-02-14

The invention of the Genome Sequence 20 DNA Sequencing System (454 parallel sequencing platform) has enabled the rapid and high-volume production of sequence data. Until now, however, individual emulsion PCR (emPCR) reactions and subsequent sequencing runs have been unable to combine template DNA from multiple individuals, as homologous sequences cannot be subsequently assigned to their original sources. We use conventional PCR with 5'-nucleotide tagged primers to generate homologous DNA amplification products from multiple specimens, followed by sequencing through the high-throughput Genome Sequence 20 DNA Sequencing System (GS20, Roche/454 Life Sciences). Each DNA sequence is subsequently traced back to its individual source through 5'tag-analysis. We demonstrate that this new approach enables the assignment of virtually all the generated DNA sequences to the correct source once sequencing anomalies are accounted for (miss-assignment rate<0.4%). Therefore, the method enables accurate sequencing and assignment of homologous DNA sequences from multiple sources in single high-throughput GS20 run. We observe a bias in the distribution of the differently tagged primers that is dependent on the 5' nucleotide of the tag. In particular, primers 5' labelled with a cytosine are heavily overrepresented among the final sequences, while those 5' labelled with a thymine are strongly underrepresented. A weaker bias also exists with regards to the distribution of the sequences as sorted by the second nucleotide of the dinucleotide tags. As the results are based on a single GS20 run, the general applicability of the approach requires confirmation. However, our experiments demonstrate that 5'primer tagging is a useful method in which the sequencing power of the GS20 can be applied to PCR-based assays of multiple homologous PCR products. The new approach will be of value to a broad range of research areas, such as those of comparative genomics, complete mitochondrial analyses, population genetics, and phylogenetics.

Development of Nano-crystalline Doped-Ceramic Enabled Fiber Sensors for High Temperature In-Situ Monitoring of Fossil Fuel Gases

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xiao, Hai; Dong, Junhang; Lin, Jerry

2012-03-01

This is a final technical report for the first project year from July 1, 2005 to Jan 31, 2012 for DoE/NETL funded project DE-FC26-05NT42439: Development of Nanocrystalline Doped-Ceramic Enabled Fiber Sensors for High Temperature In-Situ Monitoring of Fossil Fuel Gases. This report summarizes the technical progresses and achievements towards the development of novel nanocrystalline doped ceramic material-enabled optical fiber sensors for in situ and real time monitoring the gas composition of flue or hot gas streams involved in fossil-fuel based power generation and hydrogen production.

Tracking blood products in blood centres using radio frequency identification: a comprehensive assessment.

PubMed

Davis, Rodeina; Geiger, Bradley; Gutierrez, Alfonso; Heaser, Julie; Veeramani, Dharmaraj

2009-07-01

Radio frequency identification (RFID) can be a key enabler for enhancing productivity and safety of the blood product supply chain. This article describes a systematic approach developed by the RFID Blood Consortium for a comprehensive feasibility and impact assessment of RFID application in blood centre operations. Our comprehensive assessment approach incorporates process-orientated and technological perspectives as well as impact analysis. Assessment of RFID-enabled process redesign is based on generic core processes derived from the three participating blood centres. The technological assessment includes RFID tag readability and performance evaluation, testing of temperature and biological effects of RF energy on blood products, and RFID system architecture design and standards. The scope of this article is limited to blood centre processes (from donation to manufacturing/distribution) for selected mainstream blood products (red blood cells and platelets). Radio frequency identification can help overcome a number of common challenges and process inefficiencies associated with identification and tracking of blood products. High frequency-based RFID technology performs adequately and safely for red blood cell and platelet products. Productivity and quality improvements in RFID-enabled blood centre processes can recoup investment cost in a 4-year payback period. Radio frequency identification application has significant process-orientated and technological implications. It is feasible and economically justifiable to incorporate RFID into blood centre processes.

Relationships of efficiency to reproductive disorders in Danish milk production: a stochastic frontier analysis.

PubMed

Lawson, L G; Bruun, J; Coelli, T; Agger, J F; Lund, M

2004-01-01

Relationships of various reproductive disorders and milk production performance of Danish dairy farms were investigated. A stochastic frontier production function was estimated using data collected in 1998 from 514 Danish dairy farms. Measures of farm-level milk production efficiency relative to this production frontier were obtained, and relationships between milk production efficiency and the incidence risk of reproductive disorders were examined. There were moderate positive relationships between milk production efficiency and retained placenta, induction of estrus, uterine infections, ovarian cysts, and induction of birth. Inclusion of reproductive management variables showed that these moderate relationships disappeared, but directions of coefficients for almost all those variables remained the same. Dystocia showed a weak negative correlation with milk production efficiency. Farms that were mainly managed by young farmers had the highest average efficiency scores. The estimated milk losses due to inefficiency averaged 1142, 488, and 256 kg of energy-corrected milk per cow, respectively, for low-, medium-, and high-efficiency herds. It is concluded that the availability of younger cows, which enabled farmers to replace cows with reproductive disorders, contributed to high cow productivity in efficient farms. Thus, a high replacement rate more than compensates for the possible negative effect of reproductive disorders. The use of frontier production and efficiency/inefficiency functions to analyze herd data may enable dairy advisors to identify inefficient herds and to simulate the effect of alternative management procedures on the individual herd's efficiency.

Low tanker rates are enabling more long-distance crude oil and petroleum product trade

EIA Publications

2016-01-01

Recent expansion of the global crude oil and petroleum product tanker fleet has resulted in falling or lower tanker rates for much of 2016 that have widened the geographic scope for economically attractive trade at a time when inventories of both crude oil and petroleum products are at high levels.

A highly stable minimally processed plant-derived recombinant acetylcholinesterase for nerve agent detection in adverse conditions

PubMed Central

Rosenberg, Yvonne J.; Walker, Jeremy; Jiang, Xiaoming; Donahue, Scott; Robosky, Jason; Sack, Markus; Lees, Jonathan; Urban, Lori

2015-01-01

Although recent innovations in transient plant systems have enabled gram quantities of proteins in 1–2 weeks, very few have been translated into applications due to technical challenges and high downstream processing costs. Here we report high-level production, using a Nicotiana benthamiana/p19 system, of an engineered recombinant human acetylcholinesterase (rAChE) that is highly stable in a minimally processed leaf extract. Lyophylized clarified extracts withstand prolonged storage at 70 °C and, upon reconstitution, can be used in several devices to detect organophosphate (OP) nerve agents and pesticides on surfaces ranging from 0 °C to 50 °C. The recent use of sarin in Syria highlights the urgent need for nerve agent detection and countermeasures necessary for preparedness and emergency responses. Bypassing cumbersome and expensive downstream processes has enabled us to fully exploit the speed, low cost and scalability of transient production systems resulting in the first successful implementation of plant-produced rAChE into a commercial biotechnology product. PMID:26268538

A highly stable minimally processed plant-derived recombinant acetylcholinesterase for nerve agent detection in adverse conditions.

PubMed

Rosenberg, Yvonne J; Walker, Jeremy; Jiang, Xiaoming; Donahue, Scott; Robosky, Jason; Sack, Markus; Lees, Jonathan; Urban, Lori

2015-08-13

Although recent innovations in transient plant systems have enabled gram quantities of proteins in 1-2 weeks, very few have been translated into applications due to technical challenges and high downstream processing costs. Here we report high-level production, using a Nicotiana benthamiana/p19 system, of an engineered recombinant human acetylcholinesterase (rAChE) that is highly stable in a minimally processed leaf extract. Lyophylized clarified extracts withstand prolonged storage at 70 °C and, upon reconstitution, can be used in several devices to detect organophosphate (OP) nerve agents and pesticides on surfaces ranging from 0 °C to 50 °C. The recent use of sarin in Syria highlights the urgent need for nerve agent detection and countermeasures necessary for preparedness and emergency responses. Bypassing cumbersome and expensive downstream processes has enabled us to fully exploit the speed, low cost and scalability of transient production systems resulting in the first successful implementation of plant-produced rAChE into a commercial biotechnology product.

The New Tropospheric Product of the International GNSS Service

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Byun, Sung H.; Bar-Sever, Yoaz E.; Gendt, Gerd

2005-01-01

We compare this new approach for generating the IGS tropospheric products with the previous approach, which was based on explicit combination of total zenith delay contributions from the IGS ACs. The new approach enables the IGS to rapidly generate highly accurate and highly reliable total zenith delay time series for many hundreds of sites, thus increasing the utility of the products to weather modelers, climatologists, and GPS analysts. In this paper we describe this new method, and discuss issues of accuracy, quality control, utility of the new products and assess its benefits.

Total Synthesis of Hyperforin.

PubMed

Ting, Chi P; Maimone, Thomas J

2015-08-26

A 10-step total synthesis of the polycyclic polyprenylated acylphloroglucinol (PPAP) natural product hyperforin from 2-methylcyclopent-2-en-1-one is reported. This route was enabled by a diketene annulation reaction and an oxidative ring expansion strategy designed to complement the presumed biosynthesis of this complex meroterpene. The described work enables the preparation of a highly substituted bicyclo[3.3.1]nonane-1,3,5-trione motif in only six steps and thus serves as a platform for the construction of easily synthesized, highly diverse PPAPs modifiable at every position.

Induction of a dwarf phenotype with IBH1 may enable increased production of plant-made pharmaceuticals in plant factory conditions.

PubMed

Nagatoshi, Yukari; Ikeda, Miho; Kishi, Hiroyuki; Hiratsu, Keiichiro; Muraguchi, Atsushi; Ohme-Takagi, Masaru

2016-03-01

Year-round production in a contained, environmentally controlled 'plant factory' may provide a cost-effective method to produce pharmaceuticals and other high-value products. However, cost-effective production may require substantial modification of the host plant phenotype; for example, using dwarf plants can enable the growth of more plants in a given volume by allowing more plants per shelf and enabling more shelves to be stacked vertically. We show here that the expression of the chimeric repressor for Arabidopsis AtIBH1 (P35S:AtIBH1SRDX) in transgenic tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum) induces a dwarf phenotype, with reduced cell size. We estimate that, in a given volume of cultivation space, we can grow five times more AtIBH1SRDX plants than wild-type plants. Although, the AtIBH1SRDX plants also showed reduced biomass compared with wild-type plants, they produced about four times more biomass per unit of cultivation volume. To test whether the dwarf phenotype affects the production of recombinant proteins, we expressed the genes for anti-hepatitis B virus antibodies (anti-HBs) in tobacco plants and found that the production of anti-HBs per unit fresh weight did not significantly differ between wild-type and AtIBH1SRDX plants. These data indicate that P35S:AtIBH1SRDX plants produced about fourfold more antibody per unit of cultivation volume, compared with wild type. Our results indicate that AtIBH1SRDX provides a useful tool for the modification of plant phenotype for cost-effective production of high-value products by stably transformed plants in plant factory conditions. © 2015 Society for Experimental Biology, Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

High temperature alloy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frank, R. G.; Semmel, J. W., Jr.

1968-01-01

Molybdenum is substituted for tungsten on an atomic basis in a cobalt-based alloy, S-1, thus enabling the alloy to be formed into various mill products, such as tubing and steels. The alloy is weldable, has good high temperature strength and is not subject to embrittlement produced by high temperature aging.

Occupational dermal exposure to nanoparticles and nano-enabled products: Part 2, exploration of exposure processes and methods of assessment.

PubMed

Brouwer, Derk H; Spaan, Suzanne; Roff, Martin; Sleeuwenhoek, Anne; Tuinman, Ilse; Goede, Henk; van Duuren-Stuurman, Birgit; Filon, Francesca Larese; Bello, Dhimiter; Cherrie, John W

2016-08-01

Over the past decade, the primary focus of nanotoxicology and nanoenvironmental health and safety efforts has been largely on inhalation exposure to engineered nanomaterials, at the production stage, and much less on considering risks along the life cycle of nano-enabled products. Dermal exposure to nanomaterials and its health impact has been studied to a much lesser extent, and mostly in the context of intentional exposure to nano-enabled products such as in nanomedicine, cosmetics and personal care products. How concerning is dermal exposure to such nanoparticles in the context of occupational exposures? When and how should we measure it? In the first of a series of two papers (Larese Filon et al., 2016), we focused our attention on identifying conditions or situations, i.e. a combination of nanoparticle physico-chemical properties, skin barrier integrity, and occupations with high prevalence of skin disease, which deserve further investigation. This second paper focuses on the broad question of dermal exposure assessment to nanoparticles and attempts to give an overview of the mechanisms of occupational dermal exposure to nanoparticles and nano-enabled products and explores feasibility and adequacy of various methods of quantifying dermal exposure to NOAA. We provide here a conceptual framework for screening, prioritization, and assessment of dermal exposure to NOAA in occupational settings, and integrate it into a proposed framework for risk assessment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Preventing Clogging In A Vacuum Plasma Spray Gun

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krotz, Phillip D.; Daniel, Ronald L., Jr.; Davis, William M.

1994-01-01

Modification of powder-injection ports enables lengthy, high-temperature deposition operations. Graphite inserts prevent clogging of ports through which copper powder injected into vacuum plasma spray (VPS) gun. Graphite liners eliminate need to spend production time refurbishing VPS gun, reducing cost of production and increasing productivity. Concept also applied to other material systems used for net-shape fabrication via VPS.

Evaluation of potting media for soilless cultivation of southern highbush blueberry

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Growing blueberry plants in containers for fruit production allows producers to overcome issues with poor soil quality, such as high pH and salinity, and enables blueberry production in more diverse climates. The objective of the present study was to test various soilless substrates for container bl...

Repurposing a bacterial quality control mechanism to enhance enzyme production in living cells

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Heterologous expression of many proteins in bacteria, yeasts, and plants is often limited by low titers of functional protein. To address this problem, we have created a two-tiered directed evolution strategy in Escherichia coli that enables optimization of protein production while maintaining high ...

Taming Pipelines, Users, and High Performance Computing with Rector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Estes, N. M.; Bowley, K. S.; Paris, K. N.; Silva, V. H.; Robinson, M. S.

2018-04-01

Rector is a high-performance job management system created by the LROC SOC team to enable processing of thousands of observations and ancillary data products as well as ad-hoc user jobs across a 634 CPU core processing cluster.

Stereospecific Palladium-Catalyzed C-H Arylation of Pyroglutamic Acid Derivatives at the C3 Position Enabled by 8-Aminoquinoline as a Directing Group.

PubMed

Verho, Oscar; Maetani, Micah; Melillo, Bruno; Zoller, Jochen; Schreiber, Stuart L

2017-09-01

An efficient and stereospecific Pd-catalyzed protocol for the C-H arylation of pyroglutamic acid derivatives that uses 8-aminoquinoline as a directing group is described. The reaction was shown to proceed efficiently with a variety of aryl and heteroaryl iodides bearing different functional groups, giving C3-arylated cis products in good to high yields. Removal of the 8-aminoquinoline unit from these C-H arylation products enables access to synthetically useful cis and trans pyroglutamic acid-based building blocks.

GRDC. A Collaborative Framework for Radiological Background and Contextual Data Analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brian J. Quiter; Ramakrishnan, Lavanya; Mark S. Bandstra

The Radiation Mobile Analysis Platform (RadMAP) is unique in its capability to collect both high quality radiological data from both gamma-ray detectors and fast neutron detectors and a broad array of contextual data that includes positioning and stance data, high-resolution 3D radiological data from weather sensors, LiDAR, and visual and hyperspectral cameras. The datasets obtained from RadMAP are both voluminous and complex and require analyses from highly diverse communities within both the national laboratory and academic communities. Maintaining a high level of transparency will enable analysis products to further enrich the RadMAP dataset. It is in this spirit of openmore » and collaborative data that the RadMAP team proposed to collect, calibrate, and make available online data from the RadMAP system. The Berkeley Data Cloud (BDC) is a cloud-based data management framework that enables web-based data browsing visualization, and connects curated datasets to custom workflows such that analysis products can be managed and disseminated while maintaining user access rights. BDC enables cloud-based analyses of large datasets in a manner that simulates real-time data collection, such that BDC can be used to test algorithm performance on real and source-injected datasets. Using the BDC framework, a subset of the RadMAP datasets have been disseminated via the Gamma Ray Data Cloud (GRDC) that is hosted through the National Energy Research Science Computing (NERSC) Center, enabling data access to over 40 users at 10 institutions.« less

Ethanol from Agriculture for Arkansas and America

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hood, Elizabeth E

The purpose of this project was to develop technology that would facilitate production of sugars from agricultural residues to enable biofuels and biobased product manufacturing. Our primary technology is to use genetic engineering to put bacterial and fungal cellulase genes into corn kernels, using the grain as the production system for the enzymes. At the beginning of this DoE funded program, we were producing two cellulases—E1 endocellulase from a bacterium found in a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park, and CBH I exocellulase from a wood rot fungus. Our team developed several new regulatory sequences (promoters) that increased enzyme proteinmore » accumulation in two kernel compartments (embryo and endosperm). We were also able to capitalize on the diverse genetics of corn to increase protein accumulation. High oil germplasm in particular was instrumental in this increase. A second task in the program was to produce enzymes and proteins that enhanced the activity of the E1 and CBH I enzymes. Our team produced CBH II, from the same wood rot fungus at a level that enabled highly enhanced deconstruction activity of E1 and CBH I in a synergistic manner. We analyzed an additional protein, expansin from cucumber that was expressed in the maize grain expression system. This protein had been previously shown to enhance cellulase activity (D. Cosgrove, Penn State University), and required a large-scale production platform. Our team showed that the corn production system allows industrial amounts of active expansin to be harvested from the grain. One of the challenges of any new production system is to maximize recovery of active ingredient from the raw materials at a cost compatible with its final use. Our team showed that low pH extraction of grain solubilized the enzymes without contamination of native corn protein and active product could be concentrated through ultrafiltration. The final outcomes of this project were the following: 3 cellulase enzymes and the synergistic protein expansin produced at high levels in corn grain, new promoters and combinations of promoters to enhance protein accumulation in grain, application of unique germplasm pools to enhance protein accumulation, and highly efficient processing enabling cost-effective production of cellulases that are highly active in biomass deconstruction.« less

OpenTopography: Addressing Big Data Challenges Using Cloud Computing, HPC, and Data Analytics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crosby, C. J.; Nandigam, V.; Phan, M.; Youn, C.; Baru, C.; Arrowsmith, R.

2014-12-01

OpenTopography (OT) is a geoinformatics-based data facility initiated in 2009 for democratizing access to high-resolution topographic data, derived products, and tools. Hosted at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), OT utilizes cyberinfrastructure, including large-scale data management, high-performance computing, and service-oriented architectures to provide efficient Web based access to large, high-resolution topographic datasets. OT collocates data with processing tools to enable users to quickly access custom data and derived products for their application. OT's ongoing R&D efforts aim to solve emerging technical challenges associated with exponential growth in data, higher order data products, as well as user base. Optimization of data management strategies can be informed by a comprehensive set of OT user access metrics that allows us to better understand usage patterns with respect to the data. By analyzing the spatiotemporal access patterns within the datasets, we can map areas of the data archive that are highly active (hot) versus the ones that are rarely accessed (cold). This enables us to architect a tiered storage environment consisting of high performance disk storage (SSD) for the hot areas and less expensive slower disk for the cold ones, thereby optimizing price to performance. From a compute perspective, OT is looking at cloud based solutions such as the Microsoft Azure platform to handle sudden increases in load. An OT virtual machine image in Microsoft's VM Depot can be invoked and deployed quickly in response to increased system demand. OT has also integrated SDSC HPC systems like the Gordon supercomputer into our infrastructure tier to enable compute intensive workloads like parallel computation of hydrologic routing on high resolution topography. This capability also allows OT to scale to HPC resources during high loads to meet user demand and provide more efficient processing. With a growing user base and maturing scientific user community comes new requests for algorithms and processing capabilities. To address this demand, OT is developing an extensible service based architecture for integrating community-developed software. This "plugable" approach to Web service deployment will enable new processing and analysis tools to run collocated with OT hosted data.

Measurement Sets and Sites Commonly Used for High Spatial Resolution Image Product Characterization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pagnutti, Mary

2006-01-01

Scientists within NASA's Applied Sciences Directorate have developed a well-characterized remote sensing Verification & Validation (V&V) site at the John C. Stennis Space Center (SSC). This site has enabled the in-flight characterization of satellite high spatial resolution remote sensing system products form Space Imaging IKONOS, Digital Globe QuickBird, and ORBIMAGE OrbView, as well as advanced multispectral airborne digital camera products. SSC utilizes engineered geodetic targets, edge targets, radiometric tarps, atmospheric monitoring equipment and their Instrument Validation Laboratory to characterize high spatial resolution remote sensing data products. This presentation describes the SSC characterization capabilities and techniques in the visible through near infrared spectrum and examples of calibration results.

Market projections of cellulose nanomaterial-enabled products-- Part 2: Volume estimates

Treesearch

John Cowie; E.M. (Ted) Bilek; Theodore H. Wegner; Jo Anne Shatkin

2014-01-01

Nanocellulose has enormous potential to provide an important materials platform in numerous product sectors. This study builds on previous work by the same authors in which likely high-volume, low-volume, and novel applications for cellulosic nanomaterials were identified. In particular, this study creates a transparent methodology and estimates the potential annual...

Hacking an Algal Transcription Factor for Lipid Biosynthesis.

PubMed

Chen, Xiulai; Hu, Guipeng; Liu, Liming

2018-03-01

Transcriptional engineering is a viable means for engineering microalgae to produce lipid, but it often results in a trade-off between production and growth. A recent study shows that engineering a single transcriptional regulator enables efficient carbon partitioning to lipid biosynthesis with high biomass productivity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Precision production: enabling deterministic throughput for precision aspheres with MRF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maloney, Chris; Entezarian, Navid; Dumas, Paul

2017-10-01

Aspherical lenses offer advantages over spherical optics by improving image quality or reducing the number of elements necessary in an optical system. Aspheres are no longer being used exclusively by high-end optical systems but are now replacing spherical optics in many applications. The need for a method of production-manufacturing of precision aspheres has emerged and is part of the reason that the optics industry is shifting away from artisan-based techniques towards more deterministic methods. Not only does Magnetorheological Finishing (MRF) empower deterministic figure correction for the most demanding aspheres but it also enables deterministic and efficient throughput for series production of aspheres. The Q-flex MRF platform is designed to support batch production in a simple and user friendly manner. Thorlabs routinely utilizes the advancements of this platform and has provided results from using MRF to finish a batch of aspheres as a case study. We have developed an analysis notebook to evaluate necessary specifications for implementing quality control metrics. MRF brings confidence to optical manufacturing by ensuring high throughput for batch processing of aspheres.

Combining Direct Broadcast Polar Hyper-spectral Soundings with Geostationary Multi-spectral Imagery for Producing Low Latency Sounding Products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, W.; Weisz, E.; McNabb, J. M. C.

2017-12-01

A technique is described which enables the combination of high vertical resolution (1 to 2-km) JPSS hyper-spectral soundings (i.e., from AIRS, CrIS, and IASI) with high horizontal (2-km) and temporal (15-min) resolution GOES multi-spectral imagery (i.e., provided by ABI) to produce low latency sounding products with the highest possible spatial and temporal resolution afforded by the instruments.

Overview of Accelerator Applications in Energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garnett, Robert W.; Sheffield, Richard L.

An overview of the application of accelerators and accelerator technology in energy is presented. Applications span a broad range of cost, size, and complexity and include large-scale systems requiring high-power or high-energy accelerators to drive subcritical reactors for energy production or waste transmutation, as well as small-scale industrial systems used to improve oil and gas exploration and production. The enabling accelerator technologies will also be reviewed and future directions discussed.

Next-generation fiber lasers enabled by high-performance components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kliner, D. A. V.; Victor, B.; Rivera, C.; Fanning, G.; Balsley, D.; Farrow, R. L.; Kennedy, K.; Hampton, S.; Hawke, R.; Soukup, E.; Reynolds, M.; Hodges, A.; Emery, J.; Brown, A.; Almonte, K.; Nelson, M.; Foley, B.; Dawson, D.; Hemenway, D. M.; Urbanek, W.; DeVito, M.; Bao, L.; Koponen, J.; Gross, K.

2018-02-01

Next-generation industrial fiber lasers enable challenging applications that cannot be addressed with legacy fiber lasers. Key features of next-generation fiber lasers include robust back-reflection protection, high power stability, wide power tunability, high-speed modulation and waveform generation, and facile field serviceability. These capabilities are enabled by high-performance components, particularly pump diodes and optical fibers, and by advanced fiber laser designs. We summarize the performance and reliability of nLIGHT diodes, fibers, and next-generation industrial fiber lasers at power levels of 500 W - 8 kW. We show back-reflection studies with up to 1 kW of back-reflected power, power-stability measurements in cw and modulated operation exhibiting sub-1% stability over a 5 - 100% power range, and high-speed modulation (100 kHz) and waveform generation with a bandwidth 20x higher than standard fiber lasers. We show results from representative applications, including cutting and welding of highly reflective metals (Cu and Al) for production of Li-ion battery modules and processing of carbon fiber reinforced polymers.

Future materials requirements for the high-energy-intensity production of aluminum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Welch, B. J.; Hyland, M. M.; James, B. J.

2001-02-01

Like all metallurgical industries, aluminum smelting has been under pressure from two fronts—to give maximum return on investment to the shareholders and to comply with environmental regulations by reducing greenhouse emissions. The smelting process has advanced by improving efficiency and productivity while continuing to seek new ways to extend the cell life. Materials selection (particularly the use of more graphitized cathodic electrodes) has enabled lower energy consumption, while optimization of the process and controlling in a narrow band has enabled increases in productivity and operations at higher current densities. These changes have, in turn, severely stressed the materials used for cell construction, and new problems are emerging that are resulting in a reduction of cell life. The target for aluminum electro-winning has been to develop an oxygen-evolving electrode, rather than one that evolves substantial amounts of carbon dioxide. Such an electrode, when combined with suitable wettable cathode material developments, would reduce operating costs by eliminating the need for frequent electrode change and would enable more productive cell designs and reduce plant size. The materials specifications for developing these are, however, an extreme challenge. Those specifications include minimized corrosion rate of any electrode into the electrolyte, maintaining an electronically conducting oxidized surface that is of low electrical resistance, meeting the metal purity targets, and enabling variable operating current densities. Although the materials specifications can readily be written, the processing and production of the materials is the challenge.

IN13B-1660: Analytics and Visualization Pipelines for Big Data on the NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) and OpenNEX

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chaudhary, Aashish; Votava, Petr; Nemani, Ramakrishna R.; Michaelis, Andrew; Kotfila, Chris

2016-01-01

We are developing capabilities for an integrated petabyte-scale Earth science collaborative analysis and visualization environment. The ultimate goal is to deploy this environment within the NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) and OpenNEX in order to enhance existing science data production pipelines in both high-performance computing (HPC) and cloud environments. Bridging of HPC and cloud is a fairly new concept under active research and this system significantly enhances the ability of the scientific community to accelerate analysis and visualization of Earth science data from NASA missions, model outputs and other sources. We have developed a web-based system that seamlessly interfaces with both high-performance computing (HPC) and cloud environments, providing tools that enable science teams to develop and deploy large-scale analysis, visualization and QA pipelines of both the production process and the data products, and enable sharing results with the community. Our project is developed in several stages each addressing separate challenge - workflow integration, parallel execution in either cloud or HPC environments and big-data analytics or visualization. This work benefits a number of existing and upcoming projects supported by NEX, such as the Web Enabled Landsat Data (WELD), where we are developing a new QA pipeline for the 25PB system.

Analytics and Visualization Pipelines for Big ­Data on the NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) and OpenNEX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chaudhary, A.; Votava, P.; Nemani, R. R.; Michaelis, A.; Kotfila, C.

2016-12-01

We are developing capabilities for an integrated petabyte-scale Earth science collaborative analysis and visualization environment. The ultimate goal is to deploy this environment within the NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) and OpenNEX in order to enhance existing science data production pipelines in both high-performance computing (HPC) and cloud environments. Bridging of HPC and cloud is a fairly new concept under active research and this system significantly enhances the ability of the scientific community to accelerate analysis and visualization of Earth science data from NASA missions, model outputs and other sources. We have developed a web-based system that seamlessly interfaces with both high-performance computing (HPC) and cloud environments, providing tools that enable science teams to develop and deploy large-scale analysis, visualization and QA pipelines of both the production process and the data products, and enable sharing results with the community. Our project is developed in several stages each addressing separate challenge - workflow integration, parallel execution in either cloud or HPC environments and big-data analytics or visualization. This work benefits a number of existing and upcoming projects supported by NEX, such as the Web Enabled Landsat Data (WELD), where we are developing a new QA pipeline for the 25PB system.

Low abundance of the matrix arm of complex I in mitochondria predicts longevity in mice

PubMed Central

Miwa, Satomi; Jow, Howsun; Baty, Karen; Johnson, Amy; Czapiewski, Rafal; Saretzki, Gabriele; Treumann, Achim; von Zglinicki, Thomas

2014-01-01

Mitochondrial function is an important determinant of the ageing process; however, the mitochondrial properties that enable longevity are not well understood. Here we show that optimal assembly of mitochondrial complex I predicts longevity in mice. Using an unbiased high-coverage high-confidence approach, we demonstrate that electron transport chain proteins, especially the matrix arm subunits of complex I, are decreased in young long-living mice, which is associated with improved complex I assembly, higher complex I-linked state 3 oxygen consumption rates and decreased superoxide production, whereas the opposite is seen in old mice. Disruption of complex I assembly reduces oxidative metabolism with concomitant increase in mitochondrial superoxide production. This is rescued by knockdown of the mitochondrial chaperone, prohibitin. Disrupted complex I assembly causes premature senescence in primary cells. We propose that lower abundance of free catalytic complex I components supports complex I assembly, efficacy of substrate utilization and minimal ROS production, enabling enhanced longevity. PMID:24815183

Biodiesel production with special emphasis on lipase-catalyzed transesterification.

PubMed

Bisen, Prakash S; Sanodiya, Bhagwan S; Thakur, Gulab S; Baghel, Rakesh K; Prasad, G B K S

2010-08-01

The production of biodiesel by transesterification employing acid or base catalyst has been industrially accepted for its high conversion and reaction rates. Downstream processing costs and environmental problems associated with biodiesel production and byproducts recovery have led to the search for alternative production methods. Recently, enzymatic transesterification involving lipases has attracted attention for biodiesel production as it produces high purity product and enables easy separation from the byproduct, glycerol. The use of immobilized lipases and immobilized whole cells may lower the overall cost, while presenting less downstream processing problems, to biodiesel production. The present review gives an overview on biodiesel production technology and analyzes the factors/methods of enzymatic approach reported in the literature and also suggests suitable method on the basis of evidence for industrial production of biodiesel.

Directed evolution of an endoinulinase from Talaromyces purpureogenus toward efficient production of inulooligosaccharides.

PubMed

Afriat-Jurnou, Livnat; Cohen, Rami; Paluy, Irina; Ben-Adiva, Ran; Yadid, Itamar

2018-02-01

Inulinases are fructofuranosyl hydrolases that target the β-2,1 linkage of inulin and hydrolyze it into fructose, glucose and inulooligosaccharides (IOS), the latter are of growing interest as dietary fibers. Inulinases from various microorganisms have been purified, characterized and produced for industrial applications. However, there remains a need for inulinases with increased catalytic activity and better production yields to improve the hydrolysis process and fulfill the growing industrial demands for specific fibers. In this study, we used directed enzyme evolution to increase the yield and activity of an endoinulinase enzyme originated from the filamentous fungus Talaromyces purpureogenus (Penicillium purpureogenum ATCC4713). Our directed evolution approach yielded variants showing up to fivefold improvements in soluble enzyme production compared to the starting point which enabled high-yield production of highly purified recombinant enzyme. The distribution of the enzymatic reaction products demonstrated that after 24 h of incubation, the main product (57%) had a degree of polymerization of 3 (DP3). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first application of directed enzyme evolution to improve inulooligosaccharide production. The approach enabled the screening of large genetic libraries within short time frames and facilitated screening for improved enzymatic activities and properties, such as substrate specificity, product range, thermostability and pH optimum. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2018. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Managed Entry Agreements for Pharmaceuticals in the Context of Adaptive Pathways in Europe.

PubMed

Bouvy, Jacoline C; Sapede, Claudine; Garner, Sarah

2018-01-01

As per the EMA definition, adaptive pathways is a scientific concept for the development of medicines which seeks to facilitate patient access to promising medicines addressing high unmet need through a prospectively planned approach in a sustainable way. This review reports the findings of activities undertaken by the ADAPT-SMART consortium to identify enablers and explore the suitability of managed entry agreements for adaptive pathways products in Europe. We found that during 2006-2016 outcomes-based managed entry agreements were not commonly used for products with a conditional marketing authorization or authorized under exceptional circumstances. The barriers and enablers to develop workable managed entry agreements models for adaptive pathways products were discussed through interviews and a multi-stakeholder workshop with a number of recommendations made in this paper.

The use of HPLC-Q-TOF-MS for comprehensive screening of drugs and psychoactive substances in hair samples and several "legal highs" products.

PubMed

Aszyk, Justyna; Kot-Wasik, Agata

Non-targeted screening of drugs present in herbal products, known as "legal high" drugs and in hair as a biological matrix commonly used in toxicological investigations was accomplished with the use of high pressure liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-Q-TOF-MS). In total, 25 and 14 therapeutical drugs and psychoactive substances/metabolites were detected in investigated hair samples and herbal products, respectively. We demonstrate that the HPLC-Q-TOF methodology seems to be a powerful tool in the qualitative analysis applied in identification of these designer drugs, thus enabling a laboratory to stay-up-to-date with the drugs that are being sold as legal high products on black market.

Remote control of the industry processes. POWERLINK protocol application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wóbel, A.; Paruzel, D.; Paszkiewicz, B.

2017-08-01

The present technological development enables the use of solutions characterized by a lower failure rate, and work with greater precision. This allows you to obtain the most efficient production, high speed production and reliability of individual components. The main scope of this article was POWERLINK protocol application for communication with the controller B & R through communication Ethernet for recording process parameters. This enables control of run production cycle using an internal network connected to the PC industry. Knowledge of the most important parameters of the production in real time allows detecting of a failure immediately after occurrence. For this purpose, the position of diagnostic use driver X20CP1301 B&R to record measurement data such as pressure, temperature valve between the parties and the torque required to change the valve setting was made. The use of POWERLINK protocol allows for the transmission of information on the status of every 200 μs.

A Catalytic, Brønsted Base Strategy for Intermolecular Allylic C—H Amination

PubMed Central

Reed, Sean A.; Mazzotti, Anthony R.; White, M. Christina

2009-01-01

A Brønsted base activation mode for oxidative, Pd(II)/sulfoxide catalyzed, intermolecular C—H allylic amination is reported. N,N-diisopropylethylamine was found to promote amination of unactivated terminal olefins, forming the corresponding linear allylic amine products with high levels of stereo-, regio-, and chemoselectivity. The predictable and high selectivity of this C—H oxidation method enables late-stage incorporation of nitrogen into advanced synthetic intermediates and natural products. PMID:19645492

Using high-performance networks to enable computational aerosciences applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Marjory J.

1992-01-01

One component of the U.S. Federal High Performance Computing and Communications Program (HPCCP) is the establishment of a gigabit network to provide a communications infrastructure for researchers across the nation. This gigabit network will provide new services and capabilities, in addition to increased bandwidth, to enable future applications. An understanding of these applications is necessary to guide the development of the gigabit network and other high-performance networks of the future. In this paper we focus on computational aerosciences applications run remotely using the Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation (NAS) facility located at NASA Ames Research Center. We characterize these applications in terms of network-related parameters and relate user experiences that reveal limitations imposed by the current wide-area networking infrastructure. Then we investigate how the development of a nationwide gigabit network would enable users of the NAS facility to work in new, more productive ways.

Resource Efficient Metal and Material Recycling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reuter, Markus A.; van Schaik, Antoinette

Metals enable sustainability through their use and their recyclability. However, various factors can affect the Resource Efficiency of Metal Processing and Recycling. Some typical factors that enable Resource Efficiency include and arranged under the drivers of sustainability: Environment (Maximize Resource Efficiency — Energy, Recyclates, Materials, Water, Sludges, Emissions, Land); Economic Feasibility (BAT & Recycling Systems Simulation / Digitalization, Product vis-à-vis Material Centric Recycling); and Social — Licence to Operate (Legislation, consumer, policy, theft, manual labour.). In order to realize this primary production has to be linked systemically with typical actors in the recycling chain such as Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), Recyclers & Collection, Physical separation specialists as well as process metallurgical operations that produce high value metals, compounds and products that recycle back to products. This is best done with deep knowledge of multi-physics, technology, product & system design, process control, market, life cycle management, policy, to name a few. The combination of these will be discussed as Design for Sustainability (DfS) and Design for Recycling (DfR) applications.

Light-Activated Staudinger–Bertozzi Ligation within Living Animals

PubMed Central

Shah, Lisa; Laughlin, Scott T.; Carrico, Isaac S.

2016-01-01

The ability to regulate small molecule chemistry in vivo will enable new avenues of exploration in imaging and pharmacology. However, realization of these goals will require reactions with high specificity and precise control. Here we demonstrate photocontrol over the highly specific Staudinger–Bertozzi ligation in vitro and in vivo. Our simple approach, photocaging the key phosphine atom, allows for the facile production of reagents with photochemistry that can be engineered for specific applications. The resulting compounds, which are both stable and efficiently activated, enable the spatial labeling of metabolically introduced azides in vitro and on live zebrafish. PMID:27010217

Computer numeric control generation of toric surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bradley, Norman D.; Ball, Gary A.; Keller, John R.

1994-05-01

Until recently, the manufacture of toric ophthalmic lenses relied largely upon expensive, manual techniques for generation and polishing. Recent gains in computer numeric control (CNC) technology and tooling enable lens designers to employ single- point diamond, fly-cutting methods in the production of torics. Fly-cutting methods continue to improve, significantly expanding lens design possibilities while lowering production costs. Advantages of CNC fly cutting include precise control of surface geometry, rapid production with high throughput, and high-quality lens surface finishes requiring minimal polishing. As accessibility and affordability increase within the ophthalmic market, torics promise to dramatically expand lens design choices available to consumers.

Engineering control of bacterial cellulose production using a genetic toolkit and a new cellulose-producing strain

PubMed Central

Florea, Michael; Hagemann, Henrik; Santosa, Gabriella; Micklem, Chris N.; Spencer-Milnes, Xenia; de Arroyo Garcia, Laura; Paschou, Despoina; Lazenbatt, Christopher; Kong, Deze; Chughtai, Haroon; Jensen, Kirsten; Freemont, Paul S.; Kitney, Richard; Reeve, Benjamin; Ellis, Tom

2016-01-01

Bacterial cellulose is a strong and ultrapure form of cellulose produced naturally by several species of the Acetobacteraceae. Its high strength, purity, and biocompatibility make it of great interest to materials science; however, precise control of its biosynthesis has remained a challenge for biotechnology. Here we isolate a strain of Komagataeibacter rhaeticus (K. rhaeticus iGEM) that can produce cellulose at high yields, grow in low-nitrogen conditions, and is highly resistant to toxic chemicals. We achieved external control over its bacterial cellulose production through development of a modular genetic toolkit that enables rational reprogramming of the cell. To further its use as an organism for biotechnology, we sequenced its genome and demonstrate genetic circuits that enable functionalization and patterning of heterologous gene expression within the cellulose matrix. This work lays the foundations for using genetic engineering to produce cellulose-based materials, with numerous applications in basic science, materials engineering, and biotechnology. PMID:27247386

Engineering control of bacterial cellulose production using a genetic toolkit and a new cellulose-producing strain.

PubMed

Florea, Michael; Hagemann, Henrik; Santosa, Gabriella; Abbott, James; Micklem, Chris N; Spencer-Milnes, Xenia; de Arroyo Garcia, Laura; Paschou, Despoina; Lazenbatt, Christopher; Kong, Deze; Chughtai, Haroon; Jensen, Kirsten; Freemont, Paul S; Kitney, Richard; Reeve, Benjamin; Ellis, Tom

2016-06-14

Bacterial cellulose is a strong and ultrapure form of cellulose produced naturally by several species of the Acetobacteraceae Its high strength, purity, and biocompatibility make it of great interest to materials science; however, precise control of its biosynthesis has remained a challenge for biotechnology. Here we isolate a strain of Komagataeibacter rhaeticus (K. rhaeticus iGEM) that can produce cellulose at high yields, grow in low-nitrogen conditions, and is highly resistant to toxic chemicals. We achieved external control over its bacterial cellulose production through development of a modular genetic toolkit that enables rational reprogramming of the cell. To further its use as an organism for biotechnology, we sequenced its genome and demonstrate genetic circuits that enable functionalization and patterning of heterologous gene expression within the cellulose matrix. This work lays the foundations for using genetic engineering to produce cellulose-based materials, with numerous applications in basic science, materials engineering, and biotechnology.

Lidar Data Products and Applications Enabled by Conical Scanning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schwemmer, Geary K.; Miller, David O.; Wilkerson, Thomas D.; Lee, Sang-Woo

2004-01-01

Several new data products and applications for elastic backscatter lidar are achieved using simple conical scanning. Atmospheric boundary layer spatial and temporal structure is revealed with resolution not possible with static pointing lidars. Cloud fractional coverage as a function of altitude is possible with high temporal resolution. Wind profiles are retrieved from the cloud and aerosol structure motions revealed by scanning. New holographic technology will soon allow quasi-conical scanning and push-broom lidar imaging without mechanical scanning, high resolution, on the order of seconds.

COTS-Based Fault Tolerance in Deep Space: Qualitative and Quantitative Analyses of a Bus Network Architecture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tai, Ann T.; Chau, Savio N.; Alkalai, Leon

2000-01-01

Using COTS products, standards and intellectual properties (IPs) for all the system and component interfaces is a crucial step toward significant reduction of both system cost and development cost as the COTS interfaces enable other COTS products and IPs to be readily accommodated by the target system architecture. With respect to the long-term survivable systems for deep-space missions, the major challenge for us is, under stringent power and mass constraints, to achieve ultra-high reliability of the system comprising COTS products and standards that are not developed for mission-critical applications. The spirit of our solution is to exploit the pertinent standard features of a COTS product to circumvent its shortcomings, though these standard features may not be originally designed for highly reliable systems. In this paper, we discuss our experiences and findings on the design of an IEEE 1394 compliant fault-tolerant COTS-based bus architecture. We first derive and qualitatively analyze a -'stacktree topology" that not only complies with IEEE 1394 but also enables the implementation of a fault-tolerant bus architecture without node redundancy. We then present a quantitative evaluation that demonstrates significant reliability improvement from the COTS-based fault tolerance.

NGSANE: a lightweight production informatics framework for high-throughput data analysis.

PubMed

Buske, Fabian A; French, Hugh J; Smith, Martin A; Clark, Susan J; Bauer, Denis C

2014-05-15

The initial steps in the analysis of next-generation sequencing data can be automated by way of software 'pipelines'. However, individual components depreciate rapidly because of the evolving technology and analysis methods, often rendering entire versions of production informatics pipelines obsolete. Constructing pipelines from Linux bash commands enables the use of hot swappable modular components as opposed to the more rigid program call wrapping by higher level languages, as implemented in comparable published pipelining systems. Here we present Next Generation Sequencing ANalysis for Enterprises (NGSANE), a Linux-based, high-performance-computing-enabled framework that minimizes overhead for set up and processing of new projects, yet maintains full flexibility of custom scripting when processing raw sequence data. Ngsane is implemented in bash and publicly available under BSD (3-Clause) licence via GitHub at https://github.com/BauerLab/ngsane. Denis.Bauer@csiro.au Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

A Novel Semi-biosynthetic Route for Artemisinin Production Using Engineered Substrate-Promiscuous P450BM3

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dietrich, Jeffrey; Yoshikuni, Yasuo; Fisher, Karl

2009-11-30

Production of fine heterologus pathways in microbial hosts is frequently hindered by insufficient knowledge of the native metabolic pathway and its cognate enzymes; often the pathway is unresolved and enzymes lack detailed characterization. An alternative paradigm to using native pathways is de novo pathway design using well-characterized, substrate-promiscuous enzymes. We demonstrate this concept using P450BM3 from Bacillus megaterium. Using a computer model, we illustrate how key P450BM3 activ site mutations enable binding of non-native substrate amorphadiene, incorporating these mutations into P450BM3 enabled the selective oxidation of amorphadiene arteminsinic-11s,12-epoxide, at titers of 250 mg L"1 in E. coli. We also demonstratemore » high-yeilding, selective transformations to dihydroartemisinic acid, the immediate precursor to the high value anti-malarial drug artemisinin.« less

Final Technical Report for Automated Manufacturing of Innovative CPV/PV Modules

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Okawa, David

Cogenra’s Dense Cell Interconnect system was designed to use traditional front-contact cells and string them together into high efficiency and high reliability “supercells”. This novel stringer allows one to take advantage of the ~100 GW/year of existing cell production capacity and create a solar product for the customer that will produce more power and last longer than traditional PV products. The goal for this program was for Cogenra Solar to design and develop a first-of-kind automated solar manufacturing line that produces strings of overlapping cells or “supercells” based on Cogenra’s Dense Cell Interconnect (DCI) technology for their Low Concentration Photovoltaicmore » (LCPV) systems. This will enable the commercialization of DCI technology to improve the efficiency, reliability and economics for their Low Concentration Photovoltaic systems. In this program, Cogenra Solar very successfully designed, developed, built, installed, and started up the ground-breaking manufacturing tools required to assemble supercells. Cogenra then successfully demonstrated operation of the integrated line at high yield and throughput far exceeding expectations. The development of a supercell production line represents a critical step toward a high volume and low cost Low Concentration Photovoltaic Module with Dense Cell Interconnect technology and has enabled the evaluation of the technology for reliability and yield. Unfortunately, performance and cost headwinds on Low Concentration Photovoltaics systems including lack of diffuse capture (10-15% hit) and more expensive tracker requirements resulted in a move away from LCPV technology. Fortunately, the versatility of Dense Cell Interconnect technology allows for application to flat plate module technology as well and Cogenra has worked with the DOE to utilize the learning from this grant to commercialize DCI technology for the solar market through the on-going grant: Catalyzing PV Manufacturing in the US With Cogenra Solar’s Next-Generation Dense Cell Interconnect PV Module Manufacturing Technology. This program is now very successfully building off of this work and commercializing the technology to enable increased solar adoption.« less

Cooperative fault-tolerant distributed computing U.S. Department of Energy Grant DE-FG02-02ER25537 Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sunderam, Vaidy S.

2007-01-09

The Harness project has developed novel software frameworks for the execution of high-end simulations in a fault-tolerant manner on distributed resources. The H2O subsystem comprises the kernel of the Harness framework, and controls the key functions of resource management across multiple administrative domains, especially issues of access and allocation. It is based on a “pluggable” architecture that enables the aggregated use of distributed heterogeneous resources for high performance computing. The major contributions of the Harness II project result in significantly enhancing the overall computational productivity of high-end scientific applications by enabling robust, failure-resilient computations on cooperatively pooled resource collections.

Summary: High Temperature Downhole Motor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Raymond, David W.

2017-10-01

Directional drilling can be used to enable multi-lateral completions from a single well pad to improve well productivity and decrease environmental impact. Downhole rotation is typically developed with a motor in the Bottom Hole Assembly (BHA) that develops drilling power (speed and torque) necessary to drive rock reduction mechanisms (i.e., the bit) apart from the rotation developed by the surface rig. Historically, wellbore deviation has been introduced by a “bent-sub,” located in the BHA, that introduces a small angular deviation, typically less than 3 degrees, to allow the bit to drill off-axis with orientation of the BHA controlled at themore » surface. The development of a high temperature downhole motor would allow reliable use of bent subs for geothermal directional drilling. Sandia National Laboratories is pursuing the development of a high temperature motor that will operate on either drilling fluid (water-based mud) or compressed air to enable drilling high temperature, high strength, fractured rock. The project consists of designing a power section based upon geothermal drilling requirements; modeling and analysis of potential solutions; and design, development and testing of prototype hardware to validate the concept. Drilling costs contribute substantially to geothermal electricity production costs. The present development will result in more reliable access to deep, hot geothermal resources and allow preferential wellbore trajectories to be achieved. This will enable development of geothermal wells with multi-lateral completions resulting in improved geothermal resource recovery, decreased environmental impact and enhanced well construction economics.« less

Managed Entry Agreements for Pharmaceuticals in the Context of Adaptive Pathways in Europe

PubMed Central

Bouvy, Jacoline C.; Sapede, Claudine; Garner, Sarah

2018-01-01

As per the EMA definition, adaptive pathways is a scientific concept for the development of medicines which seeks to facilitate patient access to promising medicines addressing high unmet need through a prospectively planned approach in a sustainable way. This review reports the findings of activities undertaken by the ADAPT-SMART consortium to identify enablers and explore the suitability of managed entry agreements for adaptive pathways products in Europe. We found that during 2006–2016 outcomes-based managed entry agreements were not commonly used for products with a conditional marketing authorization or authorized under exceptional circumstances. The barriers and enablers to develop workable managed entry agreements models for adaptive pathways products were discussed through interviews and a multi-stakeholder workshop with a number of recommendations made in this paper. PMID:29636692

Framework for Informed Policy Making Using Data from National Environmental Observatories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wee, B.; Taylor, J. R.; Poinsatte, J.

2012-12-01

Large-scale environmental changes pose challenges that straddle environmental, economic, and social boundaries. As we design and implement climate adaptation strategies at the Federal, state, local, and tribal levels, accessible and usable data are essential for implementing actions that are informed by the best available information. Data-intensive science has been heralded as an enabler for scientific breakthroughs powered by advanced computing capabilities and interoperable data systems. Those same capabilities can be applied to data and information systems that facilitate the transformation of data into highly processed products. At the interface of scientifically informed public policy and data intensive science lies the potential for producers of credible, integrated, multi-scalar environmental data like the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) and its partners to capitalize on data and informatics interoperability initiatives that enable the integration of environmental data from across credible data sources. NSF's large-scale environmental observatories such as NEON and the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) are designed to provide high-quality, long-term environmental data for research. These data are also meant to be repurposed for operational needs that like risk management, vulnerability assessments, resource management, and others. The proposed USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS) Long Term Agro-ecosystem Research (LTAR) network is another example of such an environmental observatory that will produce credible data for environmental / agricultural forecasting and informing policy. To facilitate data fusion across observatories, there is a growing call for observation systems to more closely coordinate and standardize how variables are measured. Together with observation standards, cyberinfrastructure standards enable the proliferation of an ecosystem of applications that utilize diverse, high-quality, credible data. Interoperability facilitates the integration of data from multiple credible sources of data, and enables the repurposing of data for use at different geographical scales. Metadata that captures the transformation of data into value-added products ("provenance") lends reproducability and transparency to the entire process. This way, the datasets and model code used to create any product can be examined by other parties. This talk outlines a pathway for transforming environmental data into value-added products by various stakeholders to better inform sustainable agriculture using data from environmental observatories including NEON and LTAR.;

MERRA/AS: The MERRA Analytic Services Project Interim Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schnase, John; Duffy, Dan; Tamkin, Glenn; Nadeau, Denis; Thompson, Hoot; Grieg, Cristina; Luczak, Ed; McInerney, Mark

2013-01-01

MERRA AS is a cyberinfrastructure resource that will combine iRODS-based Climate Data Server (CDS) capabilities with Coudera MapReduce to serve MERRA analytic products, store the MERRA reanalysis data collection in an HDFS to enable parallel, high-performance, storage-side data reductions, manage storage-side driver, mapper, reducer code sets and realized objects for users, and provide a library of commonly used spatiotemporal operations that can be composed to enable higher-order analyses.

Study of acetic acid production by immobilized acetobacter cells: oxygen transfer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ghommidh, C.; Navarro, J.M.; Durand, G.

1982-03-01

The immobilization of living Acetobacter cells by adsorption onto a large-surface-area ceramic support was studied in a pulsed flow reactor. The high oxygen transfer capability of the reactor enabled acetic acid production rates up to 10.4 g/L/h to be achieved. Using a simple mathematical model incorporating both internal and external mass transfer coefficients, it was shown that oxygen transfer in the microbial film controls the reactor productivity. (Refs. 10).

High resolution production water footprints of the United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marston, L.; Yufei, A.; Konar, M.; Mekonnen, M.; Hoekstra, A. Y.

2017-12-01

The United States is the largest producer and consumer of goods and services in the world. Rainfall, surface water supplies, and groundwater aquifers represent a fundamental input to this economic production. Despite the importance of water resources to economic activity, we do not have consistent information on water use for specific locations and economic sectors. A national, high-resolution database of water use by sector would provide insight into US utilization and dependence on water resources for economic production. To this end, we calculate the water footprint of over 500 food, energy, mining, services, and manufacturing industries and goods produced in the US. To do this, we employ a data intensive approach that integrates water footprint and input-output techniques into a novel methodological framework. This approach enables us to present the most detailed and comprehensive water footprint analysis of any country to date. This study broadly contributes to our understanding of water in the US economy, enables supply chain managers to assess direct and indirect water dependencies, and provides opportunities to reduce water use through benchmarking.

Iridium-Catalyzed Dynamic Kinetic Isomerization: Expedient Synthesis of Carbohydrates from Achmatowicz Rearrangement Products.

PubMed

Wang, Hao-Yuan; Yang, Ka; Bennett, Scott R; Guo, Sheng-rong; Tang, Weiping

2015-07-20

A highly stereoselective dynamic kinetic isomerization of Achmatowicz rearrangement products was discovered. This new internal redox isomerization provided ready access to key intermediates for the enantio- and diastereoselective synthesis of a series of naturally occurring sugars. The nature of the de novo synthesis also enables the preparation of both enantiomers. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Food production & availability--essential prerequisites for sustainable food security.

PubMed

Swaminathan, M S; Bhavani, R V

2013-09-01

Food and nutrition security are intimately interconnected, since only a food based approach can help in overcoming malnutrition in an economically and socially sustainable manner. Food production provides the base for food security as it is a key determinant of food availability. This paper deals with different aspects of ensuring high productivity and production without associated ecological harm for ensuring adequate food availability. By mainstreaming ecological considerations in technology development and dissemination, we can enter an era of evergreen revolution and sustainable food and nutrition security. Public policy support is crucial for enabling this.

High-power VCSEL systems and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moench, Holger; Conrads, Ralf; Deppe, Carsten; Derra, Guenther; Gronenborn, Stephan; Gu, Xi; Heusler, Gero; Kolb, Johanna; Miller, Michael; Pekarski, Pavel; Pollmann-Retsch, Jens; Pruijmboom, Armand; Weichmann, Ulrich

2015-03-01

Easy system design, compactness and a uniform power distribution define the basic advantages of high power VCSEL systems. Full addressability in space and time add new dimensions for optimization and enable "digital photonic production". Many thermal processes benefit from the improved control i.e. heat is applied exactly where and when it is needed. The compact VCSEL systems can be integrated into most manufacturing equipment, replacing batch processes using large furnaces and reducing energy consumption. This paper will present how recent technological development of high power VCSEL systems will extend efficiency and flexibility of thermal processes and replace not only laser systems, lamps and furnaces but enable new ways of production. High power VCSEL systems are made from many VCSEL chips, each comprising thousands of low power VCSELs. Systems scalable in power from watts to multiple ten kilowatts and with various form factors utilize a common modular building block concept. Designs for reliable high power VCSEL arrays and systems can be developed and tested on each building block level and benefit from the low power density and excellent reliability of the VCSELs. Furthermore advanced assembly concepts aim to reduce the number of individual processes and components and make the whole system even more simple and reliable.

Coupled production in biorefineries--combined use of biomass as a source of energy, fuels and materials.

PubMed

Lyko, Hildegard; Deerberg, Görge; Weidner, Eckhard

2009-06-01

In spite of high prices for fossil raw materials the production of biomass-based products is rarely economically successful today. Depending on the location feedstock prices are currently so high that products from renewable resources are not marketable when produced in existing process chains. Apart from the higher feedstock costs one reason is that at present no optimized production systems exist in contrast to the chemical and petrochemical industry where these systems have been established over the last decades. If we succeed in developing production systems modelled on those of petroleum refineries where we can provide a flexible coupled production of energy, fuels, materials and chemicals chances are good to enable a lastingly successful production on the basis of renewable resources. Based on examples of fat-based and sugar-based concepts ideas for platform oriented biorefineries are outlined.

Production of Bacteriophages by Listeria Cells Entrapped in Organic Polymers.

PubMed

Roy, Brigitte; Philippe, Cécile; Loessner, Martin J; Goulet, Jacques; Moineau, Sylvain

2018-06-13

Applications for bacteriophages as antimicrobial agents are increasing. The industrial use of these bacterial viruses requires the production of large amounts of suitable strictly lytic phages, particularly for food and agricultural applications. This work describes a new approach for phage production. Phages H387 ( Siphoviridae ) and A511 ( Myoviridae ) were propagated separately using Listeria ivanovii host cells immobilised in alginate beads. The same batch of alginate beads could be used for four successive and efficient phage productions. This technique enables the production of large volumes of high-titer phage lysates in continuous or semi-continuous (fed-batch) cultures.

Hantavirus disease (nephropathia epidemica) in Belgium: effects of tree seed production and climate.

PubMed

Tersago, K; Verhagen, R; Servais, A; Heyman, P; Ducoffre, G; Leirs, H

2009-02-01

Recently, human cases of nephropathia epidemica (NE) due to Puumala virus infection in Europe have increased. Following the hypothesis that high reservoir host abundance induces higher transmission rates to humans, explanations for this altered epidemiology must be sought in factors that cause bank vole (Myodes glareolus) abundance peaks. In Western Europe, these abundance peaks are often related to high tree seed production, which is supposedly triggered by specific weather conditions. We evaluated the relationship between tree seed production, climate and NE incidence in Belgium and show that NE epidemics are indeed preceded by abundant tree seed production. Moreover, a direct link between climate and NE incidence is found. High summer and autumn temperatures, 2 years and 1 year respectively before NE occurrence, relate to high NE incidence. This enables early forecasting of NE outbreaks. Since future climate change scenarios predict higher temperatures in Europe, we should regard Puumala virus as an increasing health threat.

Bellerophon

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lingerfelt, Eric J; Messer, II, Otis E

2017-01-02

The Bellerophon software system supports CHIMERA, a production-level HPC application that simulates the evolution of core-collapse supernovae. Bellerophon enables CHIMERA's geographically dispersed team of collaborators to perform job monitoring and real-time data analysis from multiple supercomputing resources, including platforms at OLCF, NERSC, and NICS. Its multi-tier architecture provides an encapsulated, end-to-end software solution that enables the CHIMERA team to quickly and easily access highly customizable animated and static views of results from anywhere in the world via a cross-platform desktop application.

Synthesis of Natural and Unnatural Cyclooligomeric Depsipeptides Enabled by Flow Chemistry

PubMed Central

Lücke, Daniel; Dalton, Toryn; Ley, Steven V.

2016-01-01

Abstract Flow chemistry has been successfully integrated into the synthesis of a series of cyclooligomeric depsipeptides of three different ring sizes including the natural products beauvericin (1 a), bassianolide (2 b) and enniatin C (1 b). A reliable flow chemistry protocol was established for the coupling and macrocyclisation to form challenging N‐methylated amides. This flexible approach has allowed the rapid synthesis of both natural and unnatural depsipeptides in high yields, enabling further exploration of their promising biological activity. PMID:26844421

Production Process for Stem Cell Based Therapeutic Implants: Expansion of the Production Cell Line and Cultivation of Encapsulated Cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weber, C.; Pohl, S.; Poertner, R.; Pino-Grace, Pablo; Freimark, D.; Wallrapp, C.; Geigle, P.; Czermak, P.

Cell based therapy promises the treatment of many diseases like diabetes mellitus, Parkinson disease or stroke. Microencapsulation of the cells protects them against host-vs-graft reactions and thus enables the usage of allogenic cell lines for the manufacturing of cell therapeutic implants. The production process of such implants consists mainly of the three steps expansion of the cells, encapsulation of the cells, and cultivation of the encapsulated cells in order to increase their vitality and thus quality. This chapter deals with the development of fixed-bed bioreactor-based cultivation procedures used in the first and third step of production. The bioreactor system for the expansion of the stem cell line (hMSC-TERT) is based on non-porous glass spheres, which support cell growth and harvesting with high yield and vitality. The cultivation process for the spherical cell based implants leads to an increase of vitality and additionally enables the application of a medium-based differentiation protocol.

Inoculum production and long-term conservation methods for cucurbits and tomato powdery mildews.

PubMed

Bardin, Marc; Suliman, Muna E; Sage-Palloix, Anne-Marie; Mohamed, Youssif F; Nicot, Philippe C

2007-06-01

The behaviour of cucurbit powdery mildews (Podosphaera xanthii and Golovinomyces cichoracearum) and tomato powdery mildew (Oidium neolycopersici) infesting detached cotyledons of Lagenaria leucantha cv. 'Minibottle' was studied in order to develop an easy culture method for pure inoculum production. High spore production was found with a combination of mannitol (0.1 m), sucrose (0.02 m) and agar (8 gl(-1)) in the cotyledon survival medium. Sporulation on cotyledons and viability of conidia were affected by the age of culture for the three species of powdery mildew tested. The age of cotyledons had also an impact of the spore production. This method was used to produce large amounts of inoculum for P. xanthii, G. cichoracearum and O. neolycopersici and enable the development of other species of powdery mildew like Leveillula taurica. Freezing conidia in liquid nitrogen enabled the long-term conservation of P. xanthii without any loss of virulence. The same method was unsuccessful with G. cichoracearum, and L. taurica and partly successful with O. neolycopersici.

Enhancing Conservation with High Resolution Productivity Datasets for the Conterminous United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robinson, Nathaniel Paul

Human driven alteration of the earth's terrestrial surface is accelerating through land use changes, intensification of human activity, climate change, and other anthropogenic pressures. These changes occur at broad spatio-temporal scales, challenging our ability to effectively monitor and assess the impacts and subsequent conservation strategies. While satellite remote sensing (SRS) products enable monitoring of the earth's terrestrial surface continuously across space and time, the practical applications for conservation and management of these products are limited. Often the processes driving ecological change occur at fine spatial resolutions and are undetectable given the resolution of available datasets. Additionally, the links between SRS data and ecologically meaningful metrics are weak. Recent advances in cloud computing technology along with the growing record of high resolution SRS data enable the development of SRS products that quantify ecologically meaningful variables at relevant scales applicable for conservation and management. The focus of my dissertation is to improve the applicability of terrestrial gross and net primary productivity (GPP/NPP) datasets for the conterminous United States (CONUS). In chapter one, I develop a framework for creating high resolution datasets of vegetation dynamics. I use the entire archive of Landsat 5, 7, and 8 surface reflectance data and a novel gap filling approach to create spatially continuous 30 m, 16-day composites of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from 1986 to 2016. In chapter two, I integrate this with other high resolution datasets and the MOD17 algorithm to create the first high resolution GPP and NPP datasets for CONUS. I demonstrate the applicability of these products for conservation and management, showing the improvements beyond currently available products. In chapter three, I utilize this dataset to evaluate the relationships between land ownership and terrestrial production across the CONUS domain. The main results of this work are three publicly available datasets: 1) 30 m Landsat NDVI; 2) 250 m MODIS based GPP and NPP; and 3) 30 m Landsat based GPP and NPP. My goal is that these products prove useful for the wider scientific, conservation, and land management communities as we continue to strive for better conservation and management practices.

Global Web-Enabled Landsat Data (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roy, D. P.; Kovalskyy, V.; Kommareddy, I.; Votava, P.; Nemani, R. R.; Egorov, A.; Hansen, M.; Yan, L.

2013-12-01

The 40+ year series of Landsat satellites provides the longest temporal record of space-based observations acquired with spatial resolutions appropriate for monitoring anthropogenic change. The need for 'higher-level' Landsat products, i.e., beyond currently available radiometrically and geometrically corrected Landsat scenes, has been advocated by the user community and by the Landsat science team. The NASA funded Web-enabled Landsat Data (WELD) project has demonstrated this capability by systematically generating 30m weekly, seasonal, monthly and annual composited Landsat mosaics of the conterminous United States (CONUS) and Alaska for 10+ years (http://weld.cr.usgs.gov/). Recently, the WELD code has been ported to the NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) high performance super computing and data platform to generate global 30m WELD products from contemporaneous Landsat 5 and 7 data. The WELD products and select applications that take advantage of the consistently processed WELD time series are showcased. Prototype global monthly 30m products and plans to expand the production to provide Landsat 30m higher level products for any terrestrial non-Antarctic location for six 3-year epochs from 1985 to 2010 are presented. Prototype monthly global NEX 30m WELD product

Freeform Optics: current challenges for future serial production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schindler, C.; Köhler, T.; Roth, E.

2017-10-01

One of the major developments in optics industry recently is the commercial manufacturing of freeform surfaces for optical mid- and high performance systems. The loss of limitation on rotational symmetry enables completely new optical design solutions - but causes completely new challenges for the manufacturer too. Adapting the serial production from radial-symmetric to freeform optics cannot be done just by the extension of machine capabilities and software for every process step. New solutions for conventional optics productions or completely new process chains are necessary.

Digital Photonic Production of Micro Structures in Glass by In-Volume Selective Laser-Induced Etching using a High Speed Micro Scanner

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gottmann, Jens; Hermans, Martin; Ortmann, Jürgen

Digital photonic production of 3D microfluidic devices and assembled micro mechanics inside fused silica glass is carried out using ISLE directly from digital CAD data. To exploit the potential productivity of new high average power fs-lasers >150 W a modular high speed scanning system has been developed. Acousto-optical beam deflection, galvo-scanners and translation stages are controlled by CAM software. Using a lens with 10 mm focal length a focus radius of 1 μm is scanned with a velocity of 12 m/s on 400 μm track radius enabling the up-scaling of the ISLE- process using fs-laser radiation with up to 30 W.

Chiral Amine Synthesis Using ω-Transaminases: An Amine Donor that Displaces Equilibria and Enables High-Throughput Screening**

PubMed Central

Green, Anthony P; Turner, Nicholas J; O'Reilly, Elaine

2014-01-01

The widespread application of ω-transaminases as biocatalysts for chiral amine synthesis has been hampered by fundamental challenges, including unfavorable equilibrium positions and product inhibition. Herein, an efficient process that allows reactions to proceed in high conversion in the absence of by-product removal using only one equivalent of a diamine donor (ortho-xylylenediamine) is reported. This operationally simple method is compatible with the most widely used (R)- and (S)-selective ω-TAs and is particularly suitable for the conversion of substrates with unfavorable equilibrium positions (e.g., 1-indanone). Significantly, spontaneous polymerization of the isoindole by-product generates colored derivatives, providing a high-throughput screening platform to identify desired ω-TA activity. PMID:25138082

Department of the Navy (DON) Additive Manufacturing (AM) Implementation Plan V2.0 (2017)

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-05-04

technology with significant implications for the U.S. manufacturing base and naval warfare. It can shorten the design to production cycle, enable new...11 Objective 5: Enable manufacturing agility through low volume production in maintenance and operational environments...A-5 Table 5. Objective 5: Enable manufacturing agility through low volume production in maintenance and operational environments

Flash chemistry: flow chemistry that cannot be done in batch.

PubMed

Yoshida, Jun-ichi; Takahashi, Yusuke; Nagaki, Aiichiro

2013-11-04

Flash chemistry based on high-resolution reaction time control using flow microreactors enables chemical reactions that cannot be done in batch and serves as a powerful tool for laboratory synthesis of organic compounds and for production in chemical and pharmaceutical industries.

Minifactory: a precision assembly system adaptable to the product life cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muir, Patrick F.; Rizzi, Alfred A.; Gowdy, Jay W.

1997-12-01

Automated product assembly systems are traditionally designed with the intent that they will be operated with few significant changes for as long as the product is being manufactured. This approach to factory design and programming has may undesirable qualities which have motivated the development of more 'flexible' systems. In an effort to improve agility, different types of flexibility have been integrated into factory designs. Specifically, automated assembly systems have been endowed with the ability to assemble differing products by means of computer-controlled robots, and to accommodate variations in parts locations and dimensions by means of sensing. The product life cycle (PLC) is a standard four-stage model of the performance of a product from the time that it is first introduced in the marketplace until the time that it is discontinued. Manufacturers can improve their return on investment by adapting the production process to the PLC. We are developing two concepts to enable manufacturers to more readily achieve this goal: the agile assembly architecture (AAA), an abstract framework for distributed modular automation; and minifactory, our physical instantation of this architecture for the assembly of precision electro-mechanical devices. By examining the requirements which each PLC stage places upon the production system, we identify characteristics of factory design and programming which are appropriate for that stage. As the product transitions from one stage to the next, the factory design and programing should also transition from one embodiment to the next in order to achieve the best return on investment. Modularity of the factory components, highly flexible product transport mechanisms, and a high level of distributed intelligence are key characteristics of minifactory that enable this adaptation.

Utilization of inoculum of AM fungi produced on-farm for the production of Solanum lycopersicum: a summary of 7 years of field trials on a conventional vegetable farm with high soil phosphorus

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Adding arbuscular mycorrhizal [AM] fungus inoculum to potting media enables vegetable farmers to better take advantage of the AM symbiosis. On-farm production of AM fungus inoculum is a viable alternative to commercially-available inocula. We conducted a seven year experiment at a conventional veg...

Erinacine C: A novel approach to produce the secondary metabolite by submerged cultivation of Hericium erinaceus.

PubMed

Wolters, Niklas; Schembecker, Gerhard; Merz, Juliane

2015-12-01

Erinacine C is a cyathane scaffold-based secondary metabolite, which is naturally produced by the filamentous fungus Hericium erinaceus and has a high potential to treat nervous diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. The investigated approach consists of combining an optimised precultivation of H. erinaceus with an enhanced erinacine C production by developing a suitable main cultivation medium enabling the utilisation of high biomass contents. The final erinacine C production medium is buffered by 100 mM HEPES to ensure a stable pH value of 7.5 during main cultivation at inoculation ratios of up to 5:10 (v/v). The medium components, such as 5.0 g L(-1) oatmeal, 1.5 g L(-1) calcium carbonate, and 0.5 g L(-1) Edamin(®) K are crucial for an increased erinacine C production. Besides, different carbon to nitrogen ratios of 25, 64, and 103 do not affect the erinacine C synthesis. The investigated approach enables the production of 2.73 g erinacine C per litre main cultivation broth, which is tenfold higher than published data. In addition, erinacine C biosynthesis is determined to occur mainly in the first six days of main cultivation. Copyright © 2015 The British Mycological Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Direct fabrication of graphene on SiO2 enabled by thin film stress engineering.

PubMed

McNerny, Daniel Q; Viswanath, B; Copic, Davor; Laye, Fabrice R; Prohoda, Christophor; Brieland-Shoultz, Anna C; Polsen, Erik S; Dee, Nicholas T; Veerasamy, Vijayen S; Hart, A John

2014-05-23

We demonstrate direct production of graphene on SiO2 by CVD growth of graphene at the interface between a Ni film and the SiO2 substrate, followed by dry mechanical delamination of the Ni using adhesive tape. This result is enabled by understanding of the competition between stress evolution and microstructure development upon annealing of the Ni prior to the graphene growth step. When the Ni film remains adherent after graphene growth, the balance between residual stress and adhesion governs the ability to mechanically remove the Ni after the CVD process. In this study the graphene on SiO2 comprises micron-scale domains, ranging from monolayer to multilayer. The graphene has >90% coverage across centimeter-scale dimensions, limited by the size of our CVD chamber. Further engineering of the Ni film microstructure and stress state could enable manufacturing of highly uniform interfacial graphene followed by clean mechanical delamination over practically indefinite dimensions. Moreover, our findings suggest that preferential adhesion can enable production of 2-D materials directly on application-relevant substrates. This is attractive compared to transfer methods, which can cause mechanical damage and leave residues behind.

Direct fabrication of graphene on SiO2 enabled by thin film stress engineering

PubMed Central

McNerny, Daniel Q.; Viswanath, B.; Copic, Davor; Laye, Fabrice R.; Prohoda, Christophor; Brieland-Shoultz, Anna C.; Polsen, Erik S.; Dee, Nicholas T.; Veerasamy, Vijayen S.; Hart, A. John

2014-01-01

We demonstrate direct production of graphene on SiO2 by CVD growth of graphene at the interface between a Ni film and the SiO2 substrate, followed by dry mechanical delamination of the Ni using adhesive tape. This result is enabled by understanding of the competition between stress evolution and microstructure development upon annealing of the Ni prior to the graphene growth step. When the Ni film remains adherent after graphene growth, the balance between residual stress and adhesion governs the ability to mechanically remove the Ni after the CVD process. In this study the graphene on SiO2 comprises micron-scale domains, ranging from monolayer to multilayer. The graphene has >90% coverage across centimeter-scale dimensions, limited by the size of our CVD chamber. Further engineering of the Ni film microstructure and stress state could enable manufacturing of highly uniform interfacial graphene followed by clean mechanical delamination over practically indefinite dimensions. Moreover, our findings suggest that preferential adhesion can enable production of 2-D materials directly on application-relevant substrates. This is attractive compared to transfer methods, which can cause mechanical damage and leave residues behind. PMID:24854632

Vroom: designing an augmented environment for remote collaboration in digital cinema production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Margolis, Todd; Cornish, Tracy

2013-03-01

As media technologies become increasingly affordable, compact and inherently networked, new generations of telecollaborative platforms continue to arise which integrate these new affordances. Virtual reality has been primarily concerned with creating simulations of environments that can transport participants to real or imagined spaces that replace the "real world". Meanwhile Augmented Reality systems have evolved to interleave objects from Virtual Reality environments into the physical landscape. Perhaps now there is a new class of systems that reverse this precept to enhance dynamic media landscapes and immersive physical display environments to enable intuitive data exploration through collaboration. Vroom (Virtual Room) is a next-generation reconfigurable tiled display environment in development at the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2) at the University of California, San Diego. Vroom enables freely scalable digital collaboratories, connecting distributed, high-resolution visualization resources for collaborative work in the sciences, engineering and the arts. Vroom transforms a physical space into an immersive media environment with large format interactive display surfaces, video teleconferencing and spatialized audio built on a highspeed optical network backbone. Vroom enables group collaboration for local and remote participants to share knowledge and experiences. Possible applications include: remote learning, command and control, storyboarding, post-production editorial review, high resolution video playback, 3D visualization, screencasting and image, video and multimedia file sharing. To support these various scenarios, Vroom features support for multiple user interfaces (optical tracking, touch UI, gesture interface, etc.), support for directional and spatialized audio, giga-pixel image interactivity, 4K video streaming, 3D visualization and telematic production. This paper explains the design process that has been utilized to make Vroom an accessible and intuitive immersive environment for remote collaboration specifically for digital cinema production.

High efficiency solar cells for concentrator systems: silicon or multi-junction?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slade, Alexander; Stone, Kenneth W.; Gordon, Robert; Garboushian, Vahan

2005-08-01

Amonix has become the first company to begin production of high concentration silicon solar cells where volumes are over 10 MW/year. Higher volumes are available due to the method of manufacture; Amonix solely uses semiconductor foundries for solar cell production. In the previous years of system and cell field testing, this method of manufacturing enabled Amonix to maintain a very low overhead while incurring a high cost for the solar cell. However, recent simplifications to the solar cell processing sequence resulted in cost reduction and increased yield. This new process has been tested by producing small qualities in very short time periods, enabling a simulation of high volume production. Results have included over 90% wafer yield, up to 100% die yield and world record performance (η =27.3%). This reduction in silicon solar cell cost has increased the required efficiency for multi-junction concentrator solar cells to be competitive / advantageous. Concentrator systems are emerging as a low-cost, high volume option for solar-generated electricity due to the very high utilization of the solar cell, leading to a much lower $/Watt cost of a photovoltaic system. Parallel to this is the onset of alternative solar cell technologies, such as the very high efficiency multi-junction solar cells developed at NREL over the last two decades. The relatively high cost of these type of solar cells has relegated their use to non-terrestrial applications. However, recent advancements in both multi-junction concentrator cell efficiency and their stability under high flux densities has made their large-scale terrestrial deployment significantly more viable. This paper presents Amonix's experience and testing results of both high-efficiency silicon rear-junction solar cells and multi-junction solar cells made for concentrated light operation.

Engineering cell factories for producing building block chemicals for bio-polymer synthesis.

PubMed

Tsuge, Yota; Kawaguchi, Hideo; Sasaki, Kengo; Kondo, Akihiko

2016-01-21

Synthetic polymers are widely used in daily life. Due to increasing environmental concerns related to global warming and the depletion of oil reserves, the development of microbial-based fermentation processes for the production of polymer building block chemicals from renewable resources is desirable to replace current petroleum-based methods. To this end, strains that efficiently produce the target chemicals at high yields and productivity are needed. Recent advances in metabolic engineering have enabled the biosynthesis of polymer compounds at high yield and productivities by governing the carbon flux towards the target chemicals. Using these methods, microbial strains have been engineered to produce monomer chemicals for replacing traditional petroleum-derived aliphatic polymers. These developments also raise the possibility of microbial production of aromatic chemicals for synthesizing high-performance polymers with desirable properties, such as ultraviolet absorbance, high thermal resistance, and mechanical strength. In the present review, we summarize recent progress in metabolic engineering approaches to optimize microbial strains for producing building blocks to synthesize aliphatic and high-performance aromatic polymers.

Drop-on-Demand System for Manufacturing of Melt-based Solid Oral Dosage: Effect of Critical Process Parameters on Product Quality.

PubMed

Içten, Elçin; Giridhar, Arun; Nagy, Zoltan K; Reklaitis, Gintaras V

2016-04-01

The features of a drop-on-demand-based system developed for the manufacture of melt-based pharmaceuticals have been previously reported. In this paper, a supervisory control system, which is designed to ensure reproducible production of high quality of melt-based solid oral dosages, is presented. This control system enables the production of individual dosage forms with the desired critical quality attributes: amount of active ingredient and drug morphology by monitoring and controlling critical process parameters, such as drop size and product and process temperatures. The effects of these process parameters on the final product quality are investigated, and the properties of the produced dosage forms characterized using various techniques, such as Raman spectroscopy, optical microscopy, and dissolution testing. A crystallization temperature control strategy, including controlled temperature cycles, is presented to tailor the crystallization behavior of drug deposits and to achieve consistent drug morphology. This control strategy can be used to achieve the desired bioavailability of the drug by mitigating variations in the dissolution profiles. The supervisor control strategy enables the application of the drop-on-demand system to the production of individualized dosage required for personalized drug regimens.

Use of near-infrared spectroscopy and multipoint measurements for quality control of pharmaceutical drug products.

PubMed

Boiret, Mathieu; Chauchard, Fabien

2017-01-01

Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is a non-destructive analytical technique that enables better-understanding and optimization of pharmaceutical processes and final drug products. The use in line is often limited by acquisition speed and sampling area. This work focuses on performing a multipoint measurement at high acquisition speed at the end of the manufacturing process on a conveyor belt system to control both the distribution and the content of active pharmaceutical ingredient within final drug products, i.e., tablets. A specially designed probe with several collection fibers was developed for this study. By measuring spectral and spatial information, it provides physical and chemical knowledge on the final drug product. The NIR probe was installed on a conveyor belt system that enables the analysis of a lot of tablets. The use of these NIR multipoint measurement probes on a conveyor belt system provided an innovative method that has the potential to be used as a new paradigm to ensure the drug product quality at the end of the manufacturing process and as a new analytical method for the real-time release control strategy. Graphical abstract Use of near-infrared spectroscopy and multipoint measurements for quality control of pharmaceutical drug products.

Life quality and living standards in big cities under conditions of high-rise construction development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avdeeva, Elena; Averina, Tatiana; Kochetova, Larisa

2018-03-01

Modern urbanization processes occurring on a global scale inevitably lead to an increase in population density in large cities. People assess the state of life quality and living standards of megalopolises under conditions of high-rise construction development ambiguously. Using SWOT analysis, the authors distinguished positive and negative aspects of high-rise construction, highlighted threats to its development and its opportunities. The article considers the model of development of the city's industry and infrastructure, which enables determining the optimal volume of production by sectors and branches of city economy in order to increase its innovative, production and economic potential and business activity.

SCC500: next-generation infrared imaging camera core products with highly flexible architecture for unique camera designs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rumbaugh, Roy N.; Grealish, Kevin; Kacir, Tom; Arsenault, Barry; Murphy, Robert H.; Miller, Scott

2003-09-01

A new 4th generation MicroIR architecture is introduced as the latest in the highly successful Standard Camera Core (SCC) series by BAE SYSTEMS to offer an infrared imaging engine with greatly reduced size, weight, power, and cost. The advanced SCC500 architecture provides great flexibility in configuration to include multiple resolutions, an industry standard Real Time Operating System (RTOS) for customer specific software application plug-ins, and a highly modular construction for unique physical and interface options. These microbolometer based camera cores offer outstanding and reliable performance over an extended operating temperature range to meet the demanding requirements of real-world environments. A highly integrated lens and shutter is included in the new SCC500 product enabling easy, drop-in camera designs for quick time-to-market product introductions.

Development of textile-based high-tech products: the new challenge.

PubMed

da Rocha, Ana Maria M F

2004-01-01

The new generation of smart textiles is represented by fibers, yarns, fabrics and other resulting products that have special properties, regarding mechanical, chemical, electrical and thermal performances. These high-tech products, being able to respond to external stimuli through the integration of electronic components, phase change materials, shape memory materials or nano materials, enabled the development of different active and functional products. These products when combining the functions of medium, carrier and interface for micro-systems applications represent the ideal connecting channel between humans and the environment. This is a field of innovation that broadened the scope of the traditional textile and apparel products to high-tech textiles, designed to meet specific needs, involving different technologies and produced according to required properties, like personal protection, safety, leisure or health wear. The development of smart wear is a new challenge for the textile and clothing industry: it has to develop products based not only on design, fashion and comfort concepts but also in terms of functions. Moreover these products must be easy to care and durable.

Food production & availability - Essential prerequisites for sustainable food security

PubMed Central

Swaminathan, M.S.; Bhavani, R.V.

2013-01-01

Food and nutrition security are intimately interconnected, since only a food based approach can help in overcoming malnutrition in an economically and socially sustainable manner. Food production provides the base for food security as it is a key determinant of food availability. This paper deals with different aspects of ensuring high productivity and production without associated ecological harm for ensuring adequate food availability. By mainstreaming ecological considerations in technology development and dissemination, we can enter an era of evergreen revolution and sustainable food and nutrition security. Public policy support is crucial for enabling this. PMID:24135188

Application of polar orbiter products in weather forecasting using open source tools and open standards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plieger, Maarten; de Vreede, Ernst

2015-04-01

EUMETSAT disseminates data for a number of polar satellites. At KNMI these data are not fully used for operational weather forecasting mainly because of the irregular coverage and lack of tools for handling these different types of data and products. For weather forecasting there is a lot of interest in the application of products from these polar orbiters. One of the key aspects is the high-resolution of these products, which can complement the information provided by numerical weather forecasts. Another advantage over geostationary satellites is the high coverage at higher latitudes and lack of parallax. Products like the VIIRS day-night band offer many possibilities for this application. This presentation will describe a project that aims to make available a number of products from polar satellites to the forecasting operation. The goal of the project is to enable easy and timely access to polar orbiter products and enable combined presentations of satellite imagery with model data. The system will be able to generate RGB composites (“false colour images”) for operational use. The system will be built using open source components and open standards. Pytroll components are used for data handling, reprojection and derived product generation. For interactive presentation of imagery the browser based ADAGUC WMS viewer component is used. Image generation is done by ADAGUC server components, which provide OGC WMS services. Polar satellite products are stored as true color RGBA data in the NetCDF file format, the satellite swaths are stored as regular grids with their own custom geographical projection. The ADAGUC WMS system is able to reproject, render and combine these data in a webbrowser interactively. Results and lessons learned will be presented at the conference.

Deep anisotropic ICP plasma etching designed for high-volume MEMS manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Keven; Feldbaum, Michael; Pandhumsoporn, Tam; Gadgil, Prashant

1999-08-01

ICP plasma etching is gaining widespread acceptance as an enabling micromachining technology for advanced MEMS fabrication. Whereas this technology has shown a capability of delivering multiple novel applications for R and D, its acceptance by industry for high volume production has been limited. This acceptance into production will only occur when the plasma etching equipment with this technology offers the device performance, throughput, reliability, and uptime criteria required by a production facility. The design of the plasma etcher using this technology and the process capability it consequently delivers, has significant implications in making this a reality. Alcatel has been supplying such a technology to this MEMS industry for over 5 years and in the interim has evolved its product and process to make this technology production worthy. Alcatel's next generation etcher, the Alcatel 601E, offers multiple advantages to MEMS manufacturers in realizing their production goals.

Matching Social and Biophysical Scales in Extensive Livestock Production as a Basis for Adaptation to Global Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sayre, N. F.; Bestelmeyer, B.

2015-12-01

Global livestock production is heterogeneous, and its benefits and costs vary widely across global contexts. Extensive grazing lands (or rangelands) constitute the vast majority of the land dedicated to livestock production globally, but they are relatively minor contributors to livestock-related environmental impacts. Indeed, the greatest potential for environmental damage in these lands lies in their potential for conversion to other uses, including agriculture, mining, energy production and urban development. Managing such conversion requires improving the sustainability of livestock production in the face of fragmentation, ecological and economic marginality and climate change. We present research from Mongolia and the United States demonstrating methods of improving outcomes on rangelands by improving the fit between the scales of social and biophysical processes. Especially in arid and semi-arid settings, rangelands exhibit highly variable productivity over space and time and non-linear or threshold dynamics in vegetation; climate change is projected to exacerbate these challenges and, in some cases, diminish overall productivity. Policy and governance frameworks that enable landscape-scale management and administration enable range livestock producers to adapt to these conditions. Similarly, livestock breeds that have evolved to withstand climate and vegetation change improve producers' prospects in the face of increasing variability and declining productivity. A focus on the relationships among primary production, animal production, spatial connectivity, and scale must underpin adaptation strategies in rangelands.

Process for producing high purity silicon nitride by the direct reaction between elemental silicon and nitrogen-hydrogen liquid reactants

DOEpatents

Pugar, Eloise A.; Morgan, Peter E. D.

1990-01-01

A process is disclosed for producing, at a low temperature, a high purity reaction product consisting essentially of silicon, nitrogen, and hydrogen which can then be heated to produce a high purity alpha silicon nitride. The process comprises: reacting together a particulate elemental high purity silicon with a high purity nitrogen-hydrogen reactant in its liquid state (such as ammonia or hydrazine) having the formula: N.sub.n H.sub.(n+m) wherein: n=1-4 and m=2 when the nitrogen-hydrogen reactant is straight chain, and 0 when the nitrogen-hydrogen reactant is cyclic. High purity silicon nitride can be formed from this intermediate product by heating the intermediate product at a temperature of from about 1200.degree.-1700.degree. C. for a period from about 15 minutes up to about 2 hours to form a high purity alpha silicon nitride product. The discovery of the existence of a soluble Si-N-H intermediate enables chemical pathways to be explored previously unavailable in conventional solid state approaches to silicon-nitrogen ceramics.

Process for producing high purity silicon nitride by the direct reaction between elemental silicon and nitrogen-hydrogen liquid reactants

DOEpatents

Pugar, E.A.; Morgan, P.E.D.

1987-09-15

A process is disclosed for producing, at a low temperature, a high purity reaction product consisting essentially of silicon, nitrogen, and hydrogen which can then be heated to produce a high purity alpha silicon nitride. The process comprises: reacting together a particulate elemental high purity silicon with a high purity nitrogen-hydrogen reactant in its liquid state (such as ammonia or hydrazine) having the formula: N/sub n/H/sub (n+m)/ wherein: n = 1--4 and m = 2 when the nitrogen-hydrogen reactant is straight chain, and 0 when the nitrogen-hydrogen reactant is cyclic. High purity silicon nitride can be formed from this intermediate product by heating the intermediate product at a temperature of from about 1200--1700/degree/C for a period from about 15 minutes up to about 2 hours to form a high purity alpha silicon nitride product. The discovery of the existence of a soluble Si/endash/N/endash/H intermediate enables chemical pathways to be explored previously unavailable in conventional solid-state approaches to silicon-nitrogen ceramics

Synthesis of Natural and Unnatural Cyclooligomeric Depsipeptides Enabled by Flow Chemistry.

PubMed

Lücke, Daniel; Dalton, Toryn; Ley, Steven V; Wilson, Zoe E

2016-03-14

Flow chemistry has been successfully integrated into the synthesis of a series of cyclooligomeric depsipeptides of three different ring sizes including the natural products beauvericin (1 a), bassianolide (2 b) and enniatin C (1 b). A reliable flow chemistry protocol was established for the coupling and macrocyclisation to form challenging N-methylated amides. This flexible approach has allowed the rapid synthesis of both natural and unnatural depsipeptides in high yields, enabling further exploration of their promising biological activity. © 2016 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.

The effect of radiation on the long term productivity of a plant based CELSS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, B. G.; Lake, B. H.

1987-01-01

Mutations occur at a higher rate in space than under terrestrial conditions, primarily due to an increase in radiation levels. These mutations may effect the productivity of plants found in a controlled ecological life support system (CELSS). Computer simulations of plants with different ploidies, modes of reproduction, lethality thresholds, viability thresholds and susceptibilities to radiation induced mutations were performed under space normal and solar flare conditions. These simulations identified plant characteristics that would enable plants to retain high productivities over time in a CELSS.

Semi-continuous production of high-activity pectinases by immobilized Rhizopus oryzae using tobacco wastewater as substrate and their utilization in the hydrolysis of pectin-containing lignocellulosic biomass at high solid content.

PubMed

Zheng, Yu-Xi; Wang, Yuan-Liang; Pan, Jun; Zhang, Jian-Rong; Dai, Ya; Chen, Kun-Yan

2017-10-01

In this study, highly reactive endo- and exo-polygalacturonases (PGs) were produced from the tobacco industry wastewater using immobilized Rhizopus oryzae. Compared with free cells, immobilized cells increased enzyme activity 2.8-fold and reduced production time to 24h by shake-flask production. Moreover, the immobilized cells enabled the semi-continuous production of enzymes through repeated-batch mode for seven consecutive cycles in a scale-up bioreactor. During the first five cycles, the average endo-PG and exo-PG activities reached 307.5 and 242.6U/ml, respectively. The addition of crude enzyme for the hydrolysis of pectin-containing lignocellulosic biomass under high-gravity conditions increased glucose release 4.2-fold (115.4 vs. 29.0g/L), compared with hydrolysis using cellulase alone. This process achieves the efficient production of pectin-degrading enzymes, provides a cost-effective method for tobacco wastewater treatment, and offers the possibility to obtain fermentable sugars with high-titer from pectin-containing lignocellulosic biomass, which has important potential for the commercial production of bio-fuels. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Systems metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for the heterologous production of high value molecules-a veteran at new shores.

PubMed

Becker, Judith; Wittmann, Christoph

2016-12-01

For more than fifty years, Escherichia coli has represented a remarkable success story in industrial biotechnology. Traditionally known as a producer of l-amino acids, E. coli has also entered the precious market of high-value molecules and is becoming a flexible, efficient production platform for various therapeutics, pre-biotics, nutraceuticals and pigments. This tremendous progress is enabled by systems metabolic engineering concepts that integrate systems biology and synthetic biology into the design and engineering of powerful E. coli cell factories. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Pressurized-Flat-Interface Heat Exchanger

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Voss, F. E.; Howell, H. R.; Winkler, R. V.

1990-01-01

High thermal conductance obtained without leakage between loops. Heat-exchanger interface enables efficient transfer of heat between two working fluids without allowing fluids to intermingle. Interface thin, flat, and easy to integrate into thermal system. Possible application in chemical or pharmaceutical manufacturing when even trace contamination of process stream with water or other coolant ruins product. Reduces costs when highly corrosive fluids must be cooled or heated.

Synthesis of Heterologous Mevalonic Acid Pathway Enzymes in Clostridium ljungdahlii for the Conversion of Fructose and of Syngas to Mevalonate and Isoprene.

PubMed

Diner, Bruce A; Fan, Janine; Scotcher, Miles C; Wells, Derek H; Whited, Gregory M

2018-01-01

There is a growing interest in the use of microbial fermentation for the generation of high-demand, high-purity chemicals using cheap feedstocks in an environmentally friendly manner. One example explored here is the production of isoprene (C 5 H 8 ), a hemiterpene, which is primarily polymerized to polyisoprene in synthetic rubber in tires but which can also be converted to C 10 and C 15 biofuels. The strictly anaerobic, acetogenic bacterium Clostridium ljungdahlii , used in all of the work described here, is capable of glycolysis using the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway and of carbon fixation using the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway. Clostridium - Escherichia coli shuttle plasmids, each bearing either 2 or 3 different heterologous genes of the eukaryotic mevalonic acid (MVA) pathway or eukaryotic isopentenyl pyrophosphate isomerase (Idi) and isoprene synthase (IspS), were constructed and electroporated into C. ljungdahlii These plasmids, one or two of which were introduced into the host cells, enabled the synthesis of mevalonate and of isoprene from fructose and from syngas (H 2 , CO 2 , and CO) and the conversion of mevalonate to isoprene. All of the heterologous enzymes of the MVA pathway, as well as Idi and IspS, were shown to be synthesized at high levels in C. ljungdahlii , as demonstrated by Western blotting, and were enzymatically active, as demonstrated by in vivo product synthesis. The quantities of mevalonate and isoprene produced here are far below what would be required of a commercial production strain. However, proposals are made that could enable a substantial increase in the mass yield of product formation. IMPORTANCE This study demonstrates the ability to synthesize a heterologous metabolic pathway in C. ljungdahlii , an organism capable of metabolizing either simple sugars or syngas or both together (mixotrophy). Syngas, an inexpensive source of carbon and reducing equivalents, is produced as a major component of some industrial waste gas, and it can be generated by gasification of cellulosic biowaste and of municipal solid waste. Its conversion to useful products therefore offers potential cost and environmental benefits. The ability of C. ljungdahlii to grow mixotrophically also enables the recapture, should there be sufficient reducing equivalents available, of the CO 2 released upon glycolysis, potentially increasing the mass yield of product formation. Isoprene is the simplest of the terpenoids, and so the demonstration of its production is a first step toward the synthesis of higher-value products of the terpenoid pathway. Copyright © 2017 Diner et al.

Synthesis of Heterologous Mevalonic Acid Pathway Enzymes in Clostridium ljungdahlii for the Conversion of Fructose and of Syngas to Mevalonate and Isoprene

PubMed Central

Fan, Janine; Scotcher, Miles C.; Wells, Derek H.; Whited, Gregory M.

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT There is a growing interest in the use of microbial fermentation for the generation of high-demand, high-purity chemicals using cheap feedstocks in an environmentally friendly manner. One example explored here is the production of isoprene (C5H8), a hemiterpene, which is primarily polymerized to polyisoprene in synthetic rubber in tires but which can also be converted to C10 and C15 biofuels. The strictly anaerobic, acetogenic bacterium Clostridium ljungdahlii, used in all of the work described here, is capable of glycolysis using the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway and of carbon fixation using the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway. Clostridium-Escherichia coli shuttle plasmids, each bearing either 2 or 3 different heterologous genes of the eukaryotic mevalonic acid (MVA) pathway or eukaryotic isopentenyl pyrophosphate isomerase (Idi) and isoprene synthase (IspS), were constructed and electroporated into C. ljungdahlii. These plasmids, one or two of which were introduced into the host cells, enabled the synthesis of mevalonate and of isoprene from fructose and from syngas (H2, CO2, and CO) and the conversion of mevalonate to isoprene. All of the heterologous enzymes of the MVA pathway, as well as Idi and IspS, were shown to be synthesized at high levels in C. ljungdahlii, as demonstrated by Western blotting, and were enzymatically active, as demonstrated by in vivo product synthesis. The quantities of mevalonate and isoprene produced here are far below what would be required of a commercial production strain. However, proposals are made that could enable a substantial increase in the mass yield of product formation. IMPORTANCE This study demonstrates the ability to synthesize a heterologous metabolic pathway in C. ljungdahlii, an organism capable of metabolizing either simple sugars or syngas or both together (mixotrophy). Syngas, an inexpensive source of carbon and reducing equivalents, is produced as a major component of some industrial waste gas, and it can be generated by gasification of cellulosic biowaste and of municipal solid waste. Its conversion to useful products therefore offers potential cost and environmental benefits. The ability of C. ljungdahlii to grow mixotrophically also enables the recapture, should there be sufficient reducing equivalents available, of the CO2 released upon glycolysis, potentially increasing the mass yield of product formation. Isoprene is the simplest of the terpenoids, and so the demonstration of its production is a first step toward the synthesis of higher-value products of the terpenoid pathway. PMID:29054870

Enhancing lithium-sulphur battery performance by strongly binding the discharge products on amino-functionalized reduced graphene oxide.

PubMed

Wang, Zhiyu; Dong, Yanfeng; Li, Hongjiang; Zhao, Zongbin; Wu, Hao Bin; Hao, Ce; Liu, Shaohong; Qiu, Jieshan; Lou, Xiong Wen David

2014-09-25

Lithium-sulphur batteries are one very appealing power source with high energy density. But their practical use is still hindered by several issues including short lifespan, low efficiency and safety concern from the lithium anode. Polysulphide dissolution and insulating nature of sulphur are generally considered responsible for the capacity degradation. However, the detachment of discharge products, that is, highly polar lithium sulphides, from nonpolar carbon matrix (for example, graphene) has been rarely studied as one critical factor. Here we report the strongly covalent stabilization of sulphur and its discharge products on amino-functionalized reduced graphene oxide that enables stable capacity retention of 80% for 350 cycles with high capacities and excellent high-rate response up to 4 C. The present study demonstrates a feasible and effective strategy to solve the long-term cycling difficulty for lithium-sulphur batteries and also helps to understand the capacity decay mechanism involved.

Latest performance of ArF immersion scanner NSR-S630D for high-volume manufacturing for 7nm node

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Funatsu, Takayuki; Uehara, Yusaku; Hikida, Yujiro; Hayakawa, Akira; Ishiyama, Satoshi; Hirayama, Toru; Kono, Hirotaka; Shirata, Yosuke; Shibazaki, Yuichi

2015-03-01

In order to achieve stable operation in cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing, Nikon has developed NSR-S630D with extremely accurate overlay while maintaining throughput in various conditions resembling a real production environment. In addition, NSR-S630D has been equipped with enhanced capabilities to maintain long-term overlay stability and user interface improvement all due to our newly developed application software platform. In this paper, we describe the most recent S630D performance in various conditions similar to real productions. In a production environment, superior overlay accuracy with high dose conditions and high throughput are often required; therefore, we have performed several experiments with high dose conditions to demonstrate NSR's thermal aberration capabilities in order to achieve world class overlay performance. Furthermore, we will introduce our new software that enables long term overlay performance.

Engineering microbial phenotypes through rewiring of genetic networks

PubMed Central

Rodrigues, Rui T.L.; Lee, Sangjin; Haines, Matthew

2017-01-01

Abstract The ability to program cellular behaviour is a major goal of synthetic biology, with applications in health, agriculture and chemicals production. Despite efforts to build ‘orthogonal’ systems, interactions between engineered genetic circuits and the endogenous regulatory network of a host cell can have a significant impact on desired functionality. We have developed a strategy to rewire the endogenous cellular regulatory network of yeast to enhance compatibility with synthetic protein and metabolite production. We found that introducing novel connections in the cellular regulatory network enabled us to increase the production of heterologous proteins and metabolites. This strategy is demonstrated in yeast strains that show significantly enhanced heterologous protein expression and higher titers of terpenoid production. Specifically, we found that the addition of transcriptional regulation between free radical induced signalling and nitrogen regulation provided robust improvement of protein production. Assessment of rewired networks revealed the importance of key topological features such as high betweenness centrality. The generation of rewired transcriptional networks, selection for specific phenotypes, and analysis of resulting library members is a powerful tool for engineering cellular behavior and may enable improved integration of heterologous protein and metabolite pathways. PMID:28369627

Switching Transistor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

Westinghouse Electric Corporation's D60T transistors are used primarily as switching devices for controlling high power in electrical circuits. It enables reduction in the number and size of circuit components and promotes more efficient use of energy. Wide range of application from a popcorn popper to a radio frequency generator for solar cell production.

RosBREED2: Progress and future plans to enable DNA-informed breeding in the Rosaceae

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Rosaceous crops provide vital contributions to human health and are economically significant in communities across the U.S. Industry stakeholders have given high priority to development of new cultivars that exhibit disease resistance and superior horticultural quality to mitigate production, handli...

Building High Performance Learning: A Focus on Career Results and the Bottom Line.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ingram, Hadyn; Sandelands, Eric; Teare, Richard

2001-01-01

Discusses how action learning can be targeted to business objectives and how electronically enabled action learning can increase productivity. Provides examples of personal learning aligned with organizational goals, including a certificate of management studies course, prior learning experiences, and an advanced diploma in virtual learning. (SK)

High-Aspect-Ratio Rotating Cell-Culture Vessel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wolf, David A.; Sams, Clarence; Schwarz, Ray P.

1992-01-01

Cylindrical rotating cell-culture vessel with thin culture-medium layer of large surface area provides exchange of nutrients and products of metabolism with minimal agitation. Rotation causes averaging of buoyant forces otherwise separating components of different densities. Vessel enables growth of cells in homogeneous distribution with little agitation and little shear stress.

Natural product synthesis at the interface of chemistry and biology

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Nature has evolved to produce unique and diverse natural products that possess high target affinity and specificity. Natural products have been the richest sources for novel modulators of biomolecular function. Since the chemical synthesis of urea by Wöhler, organic chemists have been intrigued by natural products, leading to the evolution of the field of natural product synthesis over the past two centuries. Natural product synthesis has enabled natural products to play an essential role in drug discovery and chemical biology. With the introduction of novel, innovative concepts and strategies for synthetic efficiency, natural product synthesis in the 21st century is well poised to address the challenges and complexities faced by natural product chemistry and will remain essential to progress in biomedical sciences. PMID:25043880

A new dawn for industrial photosynthesis.

PubMed

Robertson, Dan E; Jacobson, Stuart A; Morgan, Frederick; Berry, David; Church, George M; Afeyan, Noubar B

2011-03-01

Several emerging technologies are aiming to meet renewable fuel standards, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and provide viable alternatives to fossil fuels. Direct conversion of solar energy into fungible liquid fuel is a particularly attractive option, though conversion of that energy on an industrial scale depends on the efficiency of its capture and conversion. Large-scale programs have been undertaken in the recent past that used solar energy to grow innately oil-producing algae for biomass processing to biodiesel fuel. These efforts were ultimately deemed to be uneconomical because the costs of culturing, harvesting, and processing of algal biomass were not balanced by the process efficiencies for solar photon capture and conversion. This analysis addresses solar capture and conversion efficiencies and introduces a unique systems approach, enabled by advances in strain engineering, photobioreactor design, and a process that contradicts prejudicial opinions about the viability of industrial photosynthesis. We calculate efficiencies for this direct, continuous solar process based on common boundary conditions, empirical measurements and validated assumptions wherein genetically engineered cyanobacteria convert industrially sourced, high-concentration CO(2) into secreted, fungible hydrocarbon products in a continuous process. These innovations are projected to operate at areal productivities far exceeding those based on accumulation and refining of plant or algal biomass or on prior assumptions of photosynthetic productivity. This concept, currently enabled for production of ethanol and alkane diesel fuel molecules, and operating at pilot scale, establishes a new paradigm for high productivity manufacturing of nonfossil-derived fuels and chemicals.

High-biomass C4 grasses-Filling the yield gap.

PubMed

Mullet, John E

2017-08-01

A significant increase in agricultural productivity will be required by 2050 to meet the needs of an expanding and rapidly developing world population, without allocating more land and water resources to agriculture, and despite slowing rates of grain yield improvement. This review examines the proposition that high-biomass C 4 grasses could help fill the yield gap. High-biomass C 4 grasses exhibit high yield due to C 4 photosynthesis, long growth duration, and efficient capture and utilization of light, water, and nutrients. These C 4 grasses exhibit high levels of drought tolerance during their long vegetative growth phase ideal for crops grown in water-limited regions of agricultural production. The stems of some high-biomass C 4 grasses can accumulate high levels of non-structural carbohydrates that could be engineered to enhance biomass yield and utility as feedstocks for animals and biofuels production. The regulatory pathway that delays flowering of high-biomass C 4 grasses in long days has been elucidated enabling production and deployment of hybrids. Crop and landscape-scale modeling predict that utilization of high-biomass C 4 grass crops on land and in regions where water resources limit grain crop yield could increase agricultural productivity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Method for the growth of large low-defect single crystals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Powell, J. Anthony (Inventor); Neudeck, Philip G. (Inventor); Trunek, Andrew J. (Inventor); Spry, David J. (Inventor)

2008-01-01

A method and the benefits resulting from the product thereof are disclosed for the growth of large, low-defect single-crystals of tetrahedrally-bonded crystal materials. The process utilizes a uniquely designed crystal shape whereby the direction of rapid growth is parallel to a preferred crystal direction. By establishing several regions of growth, a large single crystal that is largely defect-free can be grown at high growth rates. This process is particularly suitable for producing products for wide-bandgap semiconductors, such as SiC, GaN, AlN, and diamond. Large low-defect single crystals of these semiconductors enable greatly enhanced performance and reliability for applications involving high power, high voltage, and/or high temperature operating conditions.

Comparative mass spectrometry-based metabolomics strategies for the investigation of microbial secondary metabolites.

PubMed

Covington, Brett C; McLean, John A; Bachmann, Brian O

2017-01-04

Covering: 2000 to 2016The labor-intensive process of microbial natural product discovery is contingent upon identifying discrete secondary metabolites of interest within complex biological extracts, which contain inventories of all extractable small molecules produced by an organism or consortium. Historically, compound isolation prioritization has been driven by observed biological activity and/or relative metabolite abundance and followed by dereplication via accurate mass analysis. Decades of discovery using variants of these methods has generated the natural pharmacopeia but also contributes to recent high rediscovery rates. However, genomic sequencing reveals substantial untapped potential in previously mined organisms, and can provide useful prescience of potentially new secondary metabolites that ultimately enables isolation. Recently, advances in comparative metabolomics analyses have been coupled to secondary metabolic predictions to accelerate bioactivity and abundance-independent discovery work flows. In this review we will discuss the various analytical and computational techniques that enable MS-based metabolomic applications to natural product discovery and discuss the future prospects for comparative metabolomics in natural product discovery.

New calibration method for I-scan sensors to enable the precise measurement of pressures delivered by 'pressure garments'.

PubMed

Macintyre, Lisa

2011-11-01

Accurate measurement of the pressure delivered by medical compression products is highly desirable both in monitoring treatment and in developing new pressure inducing garments or products. There are several complications in measuring pressure at the garment/body interface and at present no ideal pressure measurement tool exists for this purpose. This paper summarises a thorough evaluation of the accuracy and reproducibility of measurements taken following both of Tekscan Inc.'s recommended calibration procedures for I-scan sensors; and presents an improved method for calibrating and using I-scan pressure sensors. The proposed calibration method enables accurate (±2.1 mmHg) measurement of pressures delivered by pressure garments to body parts with a circumference ≥30 cm. This method is too cumbersome for routine clinical use but is very useful, accurate and reproducible for product development or clinical evaluation purposes. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

Large-scale Parallel Unstructured Mesh Computations for 3D High-lift Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mavriplis, Dimitri J.; Pirzadeh, S.

1999-01-01

A complete "geometry to drag-polar" analysis capability for the three-dimensional high-lift configurations is described. The approach is based on the use of unstructured meshes in order to enable rapid turnaround for complicated geometries that arise in high-lift configurations. Special attention is devoted to creating a capability for enabling analyses on highly resolved grids. Unstructured meshes of several million vertices are initially generated on a work-station, and subsequently refined on a supercomputer. The flow is solved on these refined meshes on large parallel computers using an unstructured agglomeration multigrid algorithm. Good prediction of lift and drag throughout the range of incidences is demonstrated on a transport take-off configuration using up to 24.7 million grid points. The feasibility of using this approach in a production environment on existing parallel machines is demonstrated, as well as the scalability of the solver on machines using up to 1450 processors.

Ultra-high power capabilities in amorphous FePO4 thin films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gandrud, Knut B.; Nilsen, Ola; Fjellvåg, Helmer

2016-02-01

Record breaking electrochemical properties of FePO4 have been found through investigation of the thickness dependent electrochemical properties of amorphous thin film electrodes. Atomic layer deposition was used for production of thin films of amorphous FePO4 with highly accurate thickness and topography. Electrochemical characterization of these thin film electrodes revealed that the thinner electrodes behave in a pseudocapacitive manner even at high rates of Li+ de/intercalation, which enabled specific powers above 1 MW kg-1 FePO4 to be obtained with minimal capacity loss. In addition, a self-enhancing kinetic effect was observed during cycling enabling more than 10,000 cycles at current rates approaching that of a supercapacitor (11s charge/discharge). The current findings may open for construction of ultra-high power battery electrodes that combines the energy density of batteries with the power capabilities of supercapacitors.

High Acetic Acid Production Rate Obtained by Microbial Electrosynthesis from Carbon Dioxide.

PubMed

Jourdin, Ludovic; Grieger, Timothy; Monetti, Juliette; Flexer, Victoria; Freguia, Stefano; Lu, Yang; Chen, Jun; Romano, Mark; Wallace, Gordon G; Keller, Jurg

2015-11-17

High product specificity and production rate are regarded as key success parameters for large-scale applicability of a (bio)chemical reaction technology. Here, we report a significant performance enhancement in acetate formation from CO2, reaching comparable productivity levels as in industrial fermentation processes (volumetric production rate and product yield). A biocathode current density of -102 ± 1 A m(-2) and an acetic acid production rate of 685 ± 30 (g m(-2) day(-1)) have been achieved in this study. High recoveries of 94 ± 2% of the CO2 supplied as the sole carbon source and 100 ± 4% of electrons into the final product (acetic acid) were achieved after development of a mature biofilm, reaching an elevated product titer of up to 11 g L(-1). This high product specificity is remarkable for mixed microbial cultures, which would make the product downstream processing easier and the technology more attractive. This performance enhancement was enabled through the combination of a well-acclimatized and enriched microbial culture (very fast start-up after culture transfer), coupled with the use of a newly synthesized electrode material, EPD-3D. The throwing power of the electrophoretic deposition technique, a method suitable for large-scale production, was harnessed to form multiwalled carbon nanotube coatings onto reticulated vitreous carbon to generate a hierarchical porous structure.

New developments in flexible cholesteric liquid crystal displays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schneider, Tod; Davis, Donald J.; Franklin, Sean; Venkataraman, Nithya; McDaniel, Diaz; Nicholson, Forrest; Montbach, Erica; Khan, Asad; Doane, J. William

2007-02-01

Flexible Cholesteric liquid crystal displays have been rapidly maturing into a strong contender in the flexible display market. Encapsulation of the Cholesteric liquid crystal permits the use of flexible plastic substrates and roll-to-roll production. Recent advances include ultra-thin displays, laser-cut segmented displays of variable geometry, and smart card applications. Exciting technologies such as simultaneous laser-edge sealing and singulation enable high volume production, excellent quality control and non-traditional display geometries and formats.

Enantioselective α-Alkylation of Aldehydes via Photoredox Organocatalysis: Rapid Access to Pharmacophore Fragments from β-Cyanoaldehydes**

PubMed Central

Welin, Eric R.; Warkentin, Alexander A.; Conrad, Jay C.

2015-01-01

The combination of photoredox catalysis and enamine catalysis has enabled the development of an enantioselective α-cyanoalkylation of aldehydes. This synergistic catalysis protocol allows for the coupling of two highly versatile yet orthogonal functionalities, allowing rapid diversification of the oxonitrile products to a wide array of medicinally relevant derivatives and heterocycles. This methodology has also been applied to the total synthesis of the lignan natural product (−)-bursehernin. PMID:26130043

Integrated Biorefinery Project: Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-10-390

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chapeaux, A.; Schell, D.

2013-06-01

The Amyris-NREL CRADA is a sub-project of Amyris?s DOE-funded pilot-scale Integrated Biorefinery (IBR). The primary product of the Amyris IBR is Amyris Renewable Diesel. Secondary products will include lubricants, polymers and other petro-chemical substitutes. Amyris and its project partners will execute on a rapid project to integrate and leverage their collective expertise to enable the conversion of high-impact biomass feedstocks to these advanced, infrastructure-compatible products. The scope of the Amyris-NREL CRADA includes the laboratory development and pilot scale-up of bagasse pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification conditions by NREL for subsequent conversion of lignocellulosic sugar streams to Amyris Diesel and chemical productsmore » by Amyris. The CRADA scope also includes a techno-economic analysis of the overall production process of Amyris products from high-impact biomass feedstocks.« less

High order field-to-field corrections for imaging and overlay to achieve sub 20-nm lithography requirements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mulkens, Jan; Kubis, Michael; Hinnen, Paul; de Graaf, Roelof; van der Laan, Hans; Padiy, Alexander; Menchtchikov, Boris

2013-04-01

Immersion lithography is being extended to the 20-nm and 14-nm node and the lithography performance requirements need to be tightened further to enable this shrink. In this paper we present an integral method to enable high-order fieldto- field corrections for both imaging and overlay, and we show that this method improves the performance with 20% - 50%. The lithography architecture we build for these higher order corrections connects the dynamic scanner actuators with the angle resolved scatterometer via a separate application server. Improvements of CD uniformity are based on enabling the use of freeform intra-field dose actuator and field-to-field control of focus. The feedback control loop uses CD and focus targets placed on the production mask. For the overlay metrology we use small in-die diffraction based overlay targets. Improvements of overlay are based on using the high order intra-field correction actuators on a field-tofield basis. We use this to reduce the machine matching error, extending the heating control and extending the correction capability for process induced errors.

VCSEL-based optical transceiver module for high-speed short-reach interconnect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yagisawa, Takatoshi; Oku, Hideki; Mori, Tatsuhiro; Tsudome, Rie; Tanaka, Kazuhiro; Daikuhara, Osamu; Komiyama, Takeshi; Ide, Satoshi

2017-02-01

Interconnects have been more important in high-performance computing systems and high-end servers beside its improvements in computing capability. Recently, active optical cables (AOCs) have started being used for this purpose instead of conventionally used copper cables. The AOC enables to extend the transmission distance of the high-speed signals dramatically by its broadband characteristics, however, it tend to increase the cost. In this paper, we report our developed quad small form-factor pluggable (QSFP) AOC utilizing cost-effective optical-module technologies. These are a unique structure using generally used flexible printed circuit (FPC) in combination with an optical waveguide that enables low-cost high-precision assembly with passive alignment, a lens-integrated ferrule that improves productivity by eliminating a polishing process for physical contact of standard PMT connector for the optical waveguide, and an overdrive technology that enables 100 Gb/s (25 Gb/s × 4-channel) operation with low-cost 14 Gb/s vertical-cavity surfaceemitting laser (VCSEL) array. The QSFP AOC demonstrated clear eye opening and error-free operation at 100 Gb/s with high yield rate even though the 14 Gb/s VCSEL was used thanks to the low-coupling loss resulting from the highprecision alignment of optical devices and the over-drive technology.

Flexible thin film circuitry enabling ubiquitous electronics via post-fabrication customization (Presentation Recording)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cobb, Brian

2015-09-01

For decades, the electronics industry has been accurately described by Moore's Law, where the march towards increasing density and smaller feature sizes has enabled continuous cost reductions and performance improvements. With flexible electronics, this perpetual scaling is not foreseen to occur. Instead, the industry will be dominated by Wright's Law, first proposed in 1936, where increasing demand for high volumes of product will drive costs down. We have demonstrated thin film based circuitry compatible with flexible substrates with high levels of functionality designed for such a high volume industry. This includes a generic 8-bit microprocessor totaling more than 3.5k TFTs operating at 2.1 kHz. We have also developed a post fabrication programming technique via inkjet printing of conductive spots to form a one-time programmable instruction generator, allowing customization of the processor for a specific task. The combination demonstrates the possibility to achieve the high volume production of identical products necessary to reap the benefits promised by Wright's Law, while still retaining the individualization necessary for application differentiation. This is of particular importance in the area of item level identification via RFID, where low cost and individualized identification are necessary. Remotely powered RFID tags have been fabricated using an oxide semiconductor based TFT process. This process is compatible with the post-fabrication printing process to detail individual identification codes, with the goal of producing low cost, high volume flexible tags. The goal is to produce tags compatible with existing NFC communication protocols in order to communicate with readers that are already ubiquitous in the market.

Catalytic Enantioselective Olefin Metathesis in Natural Product Synthesis. Chiral Metal-Based Complexes that Deliver High Enantioselectivity and More

PubMed Central

Malcolmson, Steven J.; Meek, Simon J.; Zhugralin, Adil R.

2012-01-01

Chiral olefin metathesis catalysts enable chemists to access enantiomerically enriched small molecules with high efficiency; synthesis schemes involving such complexes can be substantially more concise than those that would involve enantiomerically pure substrates and achiral Mo alkylidenes or Ru-based carbenes. The scope of research towards design and development of chiral catalysts is not limited to discovery of complexes that are merely the chiral versions of the related achiral variants. A chiral olefin metathesis catalyst, in addition to furnishing products of high enantiomeric purity, can offer levels of efficiency, product selectivity and/or olefin stereoselectivity that are unavailable through the achiral variants. Such positive attributes of chiral catalysts (whether utilized in racemic or enantiomerically enriched form) should be considered as general, applicable to other classes of transformations. PMID:19967680

Printed Carbon Nanotube Electronics and Sensor Systems.

PubMed

Chen, Kevin; Gao, Wei; Emaminejad, Sam; Kiriya, Daisuke; Ota, Hiroki; Nyein, Hnin Yin Yin; Takei, Kuniharu; Javey, Ali

2016-06-01

Printing technologies offer large-area, high-throughput production capabilities for electronics and sensors on mechanically flexible substrates that can conformally cover different surfaces. These capabilities enable a wide range of new applications such as low-cost disposable electronics for health monitoring and wearables, extremely large format electronic displays, interactive wallpapers, and sensing arrays. Solution-processed carbon nanotubes have been shown to be a promising candidate for such printing processes, offering stable devices with high performance. Here, recent progress made in printed carbon nanotube electronics is discussed in terms of materials, processing, devices, and applications. Research challenges and opportunities moving forward from processing and system-level integration points of view are also discussed for enabling practical applications. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Sources for Leads: Natural Products and Libraries.

PubMed

van Herwerden, Eric F; Süssmuth, Roderich D

2016-01-01

Natural products have traditionally been a major source of leads in the drug discovery process. However, the development of high-throughput screening led to an increased interest in synthetic methods that enabled the rapid construction of large libraries of molecules. This resulted in the termination or downscaling of many natural product research programs, but the chemical libraries did not necessarily produce a larger amount of drug leads. On one hand, this chapter explores the current state of natural product research within the drug discovery process. On the other hand it evaluates the efforts made to increase the amount of leads generated from chemical libraries and considers what role natural products could play here.

Automated optical assembly

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bala, John L.

1995-08-01

Automation and polymer science represent fundamental new technologies which can be directed toward realizing the goal of establishing a domestic, world-class, commercial optics business. Use of innovative optical designs using precision polymer optics will enable the US to play a vital role in the next generation of commercial optical products. The increased cost savings inherent in the utilization of optical-grade polymers outweighs almost every advantage of using glass for high volume situations. Optical designers must gain experience with combined refractive/diffractive designs and broaden their knowledge base regarding polymer technology beyond a cursory intellectual exercise. Implementation of a fully automated assembly system, combined with utilization of polymer optics, constitutes the type of integrated manufacturing process which will enable the US to successfully compete with the low-cost labor employed in the Far East, as well as to produce an equivalent product.

Water-Gas-Shift Membrane Reactor for High-Pressure Hydrogen Production. A comprehensive project report (FY2010 - FY2012)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Klaehn, John; Peterson, Eric; Orme, Christopher

2013-01-01

Idaho National Laboratory (INL), GE Global Research (GEGR), and Western Research Institute (WRI) have successfully produced hydrogen-selective membranes for water-gas-shift (WGS) modules that enable high-pressure hydrogen product streams. Several high performance (HP) polymer membranes were investigated for their gas separation performance under simulated (mixed gas) and actual syngas conditions. To enable optimal module performance, membranes with high hydrogen (H 2) selectivity, permeance, and stability under WGS conditions are required. The team determined that the VTEC PI 80-051 and VTEC PI 1388 (polyimide from Richard Blaine International, Inc.) are prime candidates for the H 2 gas separations at operating temperatures (~200°C).more » VTEC PI 80-051 was thoroughly analyzed for its H 2 separations under syngas processing conditions using more-complex membrane configurations, such as tube modules and hollow fibers. These membrane formats have demonstrated that the selected VTEC membrane is capable of providing highly selective H 2/CO 2 separation (α = 7-9) and H 2/CO separation (α = 40-80) in humidified syngas streams. In addition, the VTEC polymer membranes are resilient within the syngas environment (WRI coal gasification) at 200°C for over 1000 hours. The information within this report conveys current developments of VTEC PI 80-051 as an effective H 2 gas separations membrane for high-temperature syngas streams.« less

Large Scale PEM Electrolysis to Enable Renewable Hydrogen Fuel Production

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-02-10

PEM Fuel Cell Anode + -Cathode e- e- e- e- Electric load...BOP system. • Enables new product launch (C- Series) Proton PEM cell stack for UK Vanguard subs 18UNCLASSIFIED: Dist A. Approved for public release...UNCLASSIFIED: Dist A. Approved for public release “Large Scale PEM Electrolysis to Enable Renewable Hydrogen Fuel Production” Alternative Energy

Could Nano-Structured Materials Enable the Improved Pressure Vessels for Deep Atmospheric Probes?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Srivastava, D.; Fuentes, A.; Bienstock, B.; Arnold, J. O.

2005-01-01

A viewgraph presentation on the use of Nano-Structured Materials to enable pressure vessel structures for deep atmospheric probes is shown. The topics include: 1) High Temperature/Pressure in Key X-Environments; 2) The Case for Use of Nano-Structured Materials Pressure Vessel Design; 3) Carbon based Nanomaterials; 4) Nanotube production & purification; 5) Nanomechanics of Carbon Nanotubes; 6) CNT-composites: Example (Polymer); 7) Effect of Loading sequence on Composite with 8% by volume; 8) Models for Particulate Reinforced Composites; 9) Fullerene/Ti Composite for High Strength-Insulating Layer; 10) Fullerene/Epoxy Composite for High Strength-Insulating Layer; 11) Models for Continuous Fiber Reinforced Composites; 12) Tensile Strength for Discontinuous Fiber Composite; 13) Ti + SWNT Composites: Thermal/Mechanical; 14) Ti + SWNT Composites: Tensile Strength; and 15) Nano-structured Shell for Pressure Vessels.

Modeling of Laser Vaporization and Plume Chemistry in a Boron Nitride Nanotube Production Rig

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gnoffo, Peter A.; Fay, Catharine C.

2012-01-01

Flow in a pressurized, vapor condensation (PVC) boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) production rig is modeled. A laser provides a thermal energy source to the tip of a boron ber bundle in a high pressure nitrogen chamber causing a plume of boron-rich gas to rise. The buoyancy driven flow is modeled as a mixture of thermally perfect gases (B, B2, N, N2, BN) in either thermochemical equilibrium or chemical nonequilibrium assuming steady-state melt and vaporization from a 1 mm radius spot at the axis of an axisymmetric chamber. The simulation is intended to define the macroscopic thermochemical environment from which boron-rich species, including nanotubes, condense out of the plume. Simulations indicate a high temperature environment (T > 4400K) for elevated pressures within 1 mm of the surface sufficient to dissociate molecular nitrogen and form BN at the base of the plume. Modifications to Program LAURA, a finite-volume based solver for hypersonic flows including coupled radiation and ablation, are described to enable this simulation. Simulations indicate that high pressure synthesis conditions enable formation of BN vapor in the plume that may serve to enhance formation of exceptionally long nanotubes in the PVC process.

A Ratiometric Acoustogenic Probe for in Vivo Imaging of Endogenous Nitric Oxide.

PubMed

Reinhardt, Christopher J; Zhou, Effie Y; Jorgensen, Michael D; Partipilo, Gina; Chan, Jefferson

2018-01-24

Photoacoustic (PA) imaging is an emerging imaging modality that utilizes optical excitation and acoustic detection to enable high resolution at centimeter depths. The development of activatable PA probes can expand the utility of this technology to allow for detection of specific stimuli within live-animal models. Herein, we report the design, development, and evaluation of a series of Acoustogenic Probe(s) for Nitric Oxide (APNO) for the ratiometric, analyte-specific detection of nitric oxide (NO) in vivo. The best probe in the series, APNO-5, rapidly responds to NO to form an N-nitroso product with a concomitant 91 nm hypsochromic shift. This property enables ratiometric PA imaging upon selective irradiation of APNO-5 and the corresponding product, tAPNO-5. Moreover, APNO-5 displays the requisite photophysical characteristics for in vivo PA imaging (e.g., high absorptivity, low quantum yield) as well as high biocompatibility, stability, and selectivity for NO over a variety of biologically relevant analytes. APNO-5 was successfully applied to the detection of endogenous NO in a murine lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation model. Our studies show a 1.9-fold increase in PA signal at 680 nm and a 1.3-fold ratiometric turn-on relative to a saline control.

Advanced Photonic Processes for Photovoltaic and Energy Storage Systems.

PubMed

Sygletou, Maria; Petridis, Constantinos; Kymakis, Emmanuel; Stratakis, Emmanuel

2017-10-01

Solar-energy harvesting through photovoltaic (PV) conversion is the most promising technology for long-term renewable energy production. At the same time, significant progress has been made in the development of energy-storage (ES) systems, which are essential components within the cycle of energy generation, transmission, and usage. Toward commercial applications, the enhancement of the performance and competitiveness of PV and ES systems requires the adoption of precise, but simple and low-cost manufacturing solutions, compatible with large-scale and high-throughput production lines. Photonic processes enable cost-efficient, noncontact, highly precise, and selective engineering of materials via photothermal, photochemical, or photophysical routes. Laser-based processes, in particular, provide access to a plethora of processing parameters that can be tuned with a remarkably high degree of precision to enable innovative processing routes that cannot be attained by conventional approaches. The focus here is on the application of advanced light-driven approaches for the fabrication, as well as the synthesis, of materials and components relevant to PV and ES systems. Besides presenting recent advances on recent achievements, the existing limitations are outlined and future possibilities and emerging prospects discussed. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

High Thermal Conductivity and High Wear Resistance Tool Steels for cost-effective Hot Stamping Tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valls, I.; Hamasaiid, A.; Padré, A.

2017-09-01

In hot stamping/press hardening, in addition to its shaping function, the tool controls the cycle time, the quality of the stamped components through determining the cooling rate of the stamped blank, the production costs and the feasibility frontier for stamping a given component. During the stamping, heat is extracted from the stamped blank and transported through the tool to the cooling medium in the cooling lines. Hence, the tools’ thermal properties determine the cooling rate of the blank, the heat transport mechanism, stamping times and temperature distribution. The tool’s surface resistance to adhesive and abrasive wear is also an important cost factor, as it determines the tool durability and maintenance costs. Wear is influenced by many tool material parameters, such as the microstructure, composition, hardness level and distribution of strengthening phases, as well as the tool’s working temperature. A decade ago, Rovalma developed a hot work tool steel for hot stamping that features a thermal conductivity of more than double that of any conventional hot work tool steel. Since that time, many complimentary grades have been developed in order to provide tailored material solutions as a function of the production volume, degree of blank cooling and wear resistance requirements, tool geometries, tool manufacturing method, type and thickness of the blank material, etc. Recently, Rovalma has developed a new generation of high thermal conductivity, high wear resistance tool steel grades that enable the manufacture of cost effective tools for hot stamping to increase process productivity and reduce tool manufacturing costs and lead times. Both of these novel grades feature high wear resistance and high thermal conductivity to enhance tool durability and cut cycle times in the production process of hot stamped components. Furthermore, one of these new grades reduces tool manufacturing costs through low tool material cost and hardening through readily available gas-quenching, whereas the other new grade enables a faster manufacturing of the tool at reduced cost by eliminating the time and money consuming high temperature hardening altogether. The latter newly developed grade can be hardened from a soft delivery state for easy machining to 52 HRc by way of a simple low temperature precipitation hardening. In this work, these new grades and the role of the tool material’s thermal, mechanical and tribological properties as well as their processing features will be discussed in light of enabling the manufacture of intelligent hot stamping tools.

Enzymatic production of N-acetyl-d-glucosamine from crayfish shell wastes pretreated via high pressure homogenization.

PubMed

Wei, Guoguang; Zhang, Alei; Chen, Kequan; Ouyang, Pingkai

2017-09-01

This study presents an efficient pretreatment of crayfish shell using high pressure homogenization that enables N-acetyl-d-glucosamine (GlcNAc) production by chitinase. Firstly, the chitinase from Serratia proteamaculans NJ303 was screened for its ability to degrade crayfish shell and produce GlcNAc as the sole product. Secondly, high pressure homogenization, which caused the crayfish shell to adopt a fluffy netted structure that was characterized by Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), was evaluated as the best pretreatment method. In addition, the optimal conditions of high pressure homogenization of crayfish shell were determined to be five cycles at a pressure of 400bar, which achieved a yield of 3.9g/L of GlcNAc from 25g/L of crayfish shell in a batch enzymatic reaction over 1.5h. The results showed high pressure homogenization might be an efficient method for direct utilization of crayfish shell for enzymatic production of GlcNAc. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fast emission spectroscopy for monitoring condensed carbon in detonation products of oxygen-deficient high explosives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poeuf, Sandra; Baudin, Gerard; Genetier, Marc; Lefrançois, Alexandre; Cinnayya, Ashwin; Laurent, Jacquet

2017-06-01

A new thermochemical code, SIAME, dedicated to the study of high explosives, is currently being developed. New experimental data relative to the expansion of detonation products are required to validate the code, and a particular focus is made on solid carbon products. Two different high explosive formulations are used: a melt-cast one (RDX/TNT 60/40 % wt.) and a pressed one (HMX/VitonR 96/4 % wt.). The experimental setup allows the expansion of the products at pressures below 1 GPa in an inert medium (vacuum, helium, nitrogen and PMMA). The results of fast emission dynamic spectroscopy measurements used to monitor the detonation carbon products are reported. Two spectral signatures are identified: the first is associated to ionized gases and the second to carbon thermal radiation. The experimental spectral lines are compared with simulated spectra. The trajectory of the shock wave front is continuously recorded with a high frequency interferometer. Comparisons with numerical simulations on the hydrodynamic code Ouranoshave been done. These two measurements, using the different inert media, enable to make one step forward in the validation of the detonation products equation of state implemented in the SIAME code.

The Development of a High-Throughput/Combinatorial Workflow for the Study of Porous Polymer Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-04-05

poragen composition , poragen level, and cure temperature. A total of 216 unique compositions were prepared. Changes in opacity of the blends as they cured...allowed for the identification of compositional variables and process variables that enabled the production of porous networks. Keywords: high...in polymer network cross-link density,poragen composition , poragen level, and cure temperature. A total of 216 unique compositions were prepared

Effects of plant density on recombinant hemagglutinin yields in an Agrobacterium-mediated transient gene expression system using Nicotiana benthamiana plants.

PubMed

Fujiuchi, Naomichi; Matsuda, Ryo; Matoba, Nobuyuki; Fujiwara, Kazuhiro

2017-08-01

Agrobacterium-mediated transient expression systems enable plants to rapidly produce a wide range of recombinant proteins. To achieve economically feasible upstream production and downstream processing, it is beneficial to obtain high levels of two yield-related quantities of upstream production: recombinant protein content per fresh mass of harvested biomass (g gFM -1 ) and recombinant protein productivity per unit area-time (g m -2 /month). Here, we report that the density of Nicotiana benthamiana plants during upstream production had significant impacts on the yield-related quantities of recombinant hemagglutinin (HA). The two quantities were smaller at a high plant density of 400 plants m -2 than at a low plant density of 100 plants m -2 . The smaller quantities at the high plant density were attributed to: (i) a lower HA content in young leaves, which usually have high HA accumulation potentials; (ii) a lower biomass allocation to the young leaves; and (iii) a high area-time requirement for plants. Thus, plant density is a key factor for improving upstream production in Agrobacterium-mediated transient expression systems. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 1762-1770. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The NASA In-Space Propulsion Technology Project, Products, and Mission Applicability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson, David J.; Pencil, Eric; Liou, Larry; Dankanich, John; Munk, Michelle M.; Kremic, Tibor

2009-01-01

The In-Space Propulsion Technology (ISPT) Project, funded by NASA s Science Mission Directorate (SMD), is continuing to invest in propulsion technologies that will enable or enhance NASA robotic science missions. This overview provides development status, near-term mission benefits, applicability, and availability of in-space propulsion technologies in the areas of aerocapture, electric propulsion, advanced chemical thrusters, and systems analysis tools. Aerocapture investments improved: guidance, navigation, and control models of blunt-body rigid aeroshells; atmospheric models for Earth, Titan, Mars, and Venus; and models for aerothermal effects. Investments in electric propulsion technologies focused on completing NASA s Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) ion propulsion system, a 0.6 to 7 kW throttle-able gridded ion system. The project is also concluding its High Voltage Hall Accelerator (HiVHAC) mid-term product specifically designed for a low-cost electric propulsion option. The primary chemical propulsion investment is on the high-temperature Advanced Material Bipropellant Rocket (AMBR) engine providing higher performance for lower cost. The project is also delivering products to assist technology infusion and quantify mission applicability and benefits through mission analysis and tools. In-space propulsion technologies are applicable, and potentially enabling for flagship destinations currently under evaluation, as well as having broad applicability to future Discovery and New Frontiers mission solicitations.

NASA's In-Space Propulsion Technology Project Overview, Near-term Products and Mission Applicability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dankanich, John; Anderson, David J.

2008-01-01

The In-Space Propulsion Technology (ISPT) Project, funded by NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD), is continuing to invest in propulsion technologies that will enable or enhance NASA robotic science missions. This overview provides development status, near-term mission benefits, applicability, and availability of in-space propulsion technologies in the areas of aerocapture, electric propulsion, advanced chemical thrusters, and systems analysis tools. Aerocapture investments improved (1) guidance, navigation, and control models of blunt-body rigid aeroshells, 2) atmospheric models for Earth, Titan, Mars and Venus, and 3) models for aerothermal effects. Investments in electric propulsion technologies focused on completing NASA s Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) ion propulsion system, a 0.6-7 kW throttle-able gridded ion system. The project is also concluding its High Voltage Hall Accelerator (HiVHAC) mid-term product specifically designed for a low-cost electric propulsion option. The primary chemical propulsion investment is on the high-temperature Advanced Material Bipropellant Rocket (AMBR) engine providing higher performance for lower cost. The project is also delivering products to assist technology infusion and quantify mission applicability and benefits through mission analysis and tools. In-space propulsion technologies are applicable, and potentially enabling for flagship destinations currently under evaluation, as well as having broad applicability to future Discovery and New Frontiers mission solicitations.

Microbiological Spoilage of Spices, Nuts, Cocoa, and Coffee

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pinkas, Joan M.; Battista, Karen; Morille-Hinds, Theodora

Spices, nuts, cocoa, and coffee are raw materials that may be used alone or as ingredients in the manufacture of processed food products. The control of microbiological spoilage of these raw materials at the ingredient stage will enable the food processor to better assure the production of high-quality foods with an acceptable shelf life. While this chapter is limited to four materials, many of the spoilage control procedures recommended can also be applied to other raw materials of a similar nature.

Enantioselective α-Alkylation of Aldehydes by Photoredox Organocatalysis: Rapid Access to Pharmacophore Fragments from β-Cyanoaldehydes.

PubMed

Welin, Eric R; Warkentin, Alexander A; Conrad, Jay C; MacMillan, David W C

2015-08-10

The combination of photoredox catalysis and enamine catalysis has enabled the development of an enantioselective α-cyanoalkylation of aldehydes. This synergistic catalysis protocol allows for the coupling of two highly versatile yet orthogonal functionalities, allowing rapid diversification of the oxonitrile products to a wide array of medicinally relevant derivatives and heterocycles. This methodology has also been applied to the total synthesis of the lignan natural product (-)-bursehernin. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Danish Universities in the Financial Crisis: Change and Trust

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Milthers, Pernille Meyn

2011-01-01

Universities have always been important to national economies, but since the financial crisis of 2007-08 they have become key economic actors. Because they supply highly skilled labour and undertake basic research that enable nations to engage in global competition, they are capable of boosting production and innovation. This article explores the…

Genome Sequence of the Alkaline-Tolerant Cellulomonas sp. Strain FA1

DOE PAGES

Cohen, Michael F.; Hu, Ping; Nguyen, My Vu; ...

2015-06-18

We present the genome of the cellulose-degrading Cellulomonas sp. strain FA1 isolated from an actively serpentinizing highly alkaline spring. Knowledge of this genome will enable studies into the molecular basis of plant material degradation in alkaline environments and inform the development of lignocellulose bioprocessing procedures for biofuel production.

Low inlet gas velocity high throughput biomass gasifier

DOEpatents

Feldmann, Herman F.; Paisley, Mark A.

1989-01-01

The present invention discloses a novel method of operating a gasifier for production of fuel gas from carbonaceous fuels. The process disclosed enables operating in an entrained mode using inlet gas velocities of less than 7 feet per second, feedstock throughputs exceeding 4000 lbs/ft.sup.2 -hr, and pressures below 100 psia.

Comparison of performance of tile drainage routines in SWAT 2009 and 2012 in an extensively tile-drained watershed in Midwest

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Subsurface tile drainage systems are widely used in agricultural watersheds in the Midwestern U.S. Tile drainage systems enable the Midwest area to become highly productive agricultural lands, but can also create environmental problems, for example nitrate-N contamination associated with drainage w...

Design for Usability; practice-oriented research for user-centered product design.

PubMed

van Eijk, Daan; van Kuijk, Jasper; Hoolhorst, Frederik; Kim, Chajoong; Harkema, Christelle; Dorrestijn, Steven

2012-01-01

The Design for Usability project aims at improving the usability of electronic professional and consumer products by creating new methodology and methods for user-centred product development, which are feasible to apply in practice. The project was focused on 5 key areas: (i) design methodology, expanding the existing approach of scenario-based design to incorporate the interaction between product design, user characteristics, and user behaviour; (ii) company processes, barriers and enablers for usability in practice; (iii) user characteristics in relation to types of products and use-situations; (iv) usability decision-making; and (v) product impact on user behaviour. The project team developed methods and techniques in each of these areas to support the design of products with a high level of usability. This paper brings together and summarizes the findings.

Mindtagger: A Demonstration of Data Labeling in Knowledge Base Construction.

PubMed

Shin, Jaeho; Ré, Christopher; Cafarella, Michael

2015-08-01

End-to-end knowledge base construction systems using statistical inference are enabling more people to automatically extract high-quality domain-specific information from unstructured data. As a result of deploying DeepDive framework across several domains, we found new challenges in debugging and improving such end-to-end systems to construct high-quality knowledge bases. DeepDive has an iterative development cycle in which users improve the data. To help our users, we needed to develop principles for analyzing the system's error as well as provide tooling for inspecting and labeling various data products of the system. We created guidelines for error analysis modeled after our colleagues' best practices, in which data labeling plays a critical role in every step of the analysis. To enable more productive and systematic data labeling, we created Mindtagger, a versatile tool that can be configured to support a wide range of tasks. In this demonstration, we show in detail what data labeling tasks are modeled in our error analysis guidelines and how each of them is performed using Mindtagger.

Recent advances and product enhancements in reflective cholesteric displays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khan, Asad; Schneider, Tod; Miller, Nick; Marhefka, Duane; Ernst, Todd; Nicholson, Forrest; Doane, Joseph W.

2005-04-01

Bistable reflective cholesteric displays are a liquid crystal display technology developed to fill a market need for very low power displays on a low-cost, high resolution passive matrix. Their unique look, high reflectivity, bistability, and simple structure make them an ideal flat panel display choice for handheld or other portable devices where small lightweight batteries with long lifetimes are important. We discuss recent advances in cholesteric display technology at Kent Displays such as progress towards single layer black and white displays, standard products, lower cost display modules, and various interface options for cholesteric display applications. It will be shown that inclusion of radio frequency (rf) control options and serial peripheral interface (spi) can greatly enhance the cholesteric display module market penetration by enabling quick integration into end devices. Finally, some discussion will be on the progress of the development of flexible reflective cholesteric displays. These flexible displays can dramatically change industrial design methods by enabling curved surfaces with displays integrated in them. Additional discussion in the paper will include applications of various display modes including signs, hand held instrumentation, and the electronic book and reader.

Natural product synthesis at the interface of chemistry and biology.

PubMed

Hong, Jiyong

2014-08-11

Nature has evolved to produce unique and diverse natural products that possess high target affinity and specificity. Natural products have been the richest sources for novel modulators of biomolecular function. Since the chemical synthesis of urea by Wöhler, organic chemists have been intrigued by natural products, leading to the evolution of the field of natural product synthesis over the past two centuries. Natural product synthesis has enabled natural products to play an essential role in drug discovery and chemical biology. With the introduction of novel, innovative concepts and strategies for synthetic efficiency, natural product synthesis in the 21st century is well poised to address the challenges and complexities faced by natural product chemistry and will remain essential to progress in biomedical sciences. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A new generation of small pixel pitch/SWaP cooled infrared detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Espuno, L.; Pacaud, O.; Reibel, Y.; Rubaldo, L.; Kerlain, A.; Péré-Laperne, N.; Dariel, A.; Roumegoux, J.; Brunner, A.; Kessler, A.; Gravrand, O.; Castelein, P.

2015-10-01

Following clear technological trends, the cooled IR detectors market is now in demand for smaller, more efficient and higher performance products. This demand pushes products developments towards constant innovations on detectors, read-out circuits, proximity electronics boards, and coolers. Sofradir was first to show a 10μm focal plane array (FPA) at DSS 2012, and announced the DAPHNIS 10μm product line back in 2014. This pixel pitch is a key enabler for infrared detectors with increased resolution. Sofradir recently achieved outstanding products demonstrations at this pixel pitch, which clearly demonstrate the benefits of adopting 10μm pixel pitch focal plane array-based detectors. Both HD and XGA Daphnis 10μm products also benefit from a global video datapath efficiency improvement by transitioning to digital video interfaces. Moreover, innovative smart pixels functionalities drastically increase product versatility. In addition to this strong push towards a higher pixels density, Sofradir acknowledges the need for smaller and lower power cooled infrared detector. Together with straightforward system interfaces and better overall performances, latest technological advances on SWAP-C (Size, Weight, Power and Cost) Sofradir products enable the advent of a new generation of high performance portable and agile systems (handheld thermal imagers, unmanned aerial vehicles, light gimbals etc...). This paper focuses on those features and performances that can make an actual difference in the field.

Manipulation of Samples at Extreme Temperatures for Fast in-situ Synchrotron Measurements

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Weber, Richard

An aerodynamic sample levitation system with laser beam heating was integrated with the APS beamlines 6 ID-D, 11 ID-C and 20 BM-B. The new capability enables in-situ measurements of structure and XANES at extreme temperatures (300-3500 °C) and in conditions that completely avoid contact with container surfaces. In addition to maintaining a high degree of sample purity, the use of aerodynamic levitation enables deep supercooling and greatly enhanced glass formation from a wide variety of melts and liquids. Development and integration of controlled extreme sample environments and new measurement techniques is an important aspect of beamline operations and user support.more » Processing and solidifying liquids is a critical value-adding step in manufacturing semiconductors, optical materials, metals and in the operation of many energy conversion devices. Understanding structural evolution is of fundamental importance in condensed materials, geology, and biology. The new capability provides unique possibilities for materials research and helps to develop and maintain a competitive materials manufacturing and energy utilization industry. Test samples were used to demonstrate key features of the capability including experiments on hot crystalline materials, liquids at temperatures from about 500 to 3500 °C. The use of controlled atmospheres using redox gas mixtures enabled in-situ changes in the oxidation states of cations in melts. Significant innovations in this work were: (i) Use of redox gas mixtures to adjust the oxidation state of cations in-situ (ii) Operation with a fully enclosed system suitable for work with nuclear fuel materials (iii) Making high quality high energy in-situ x-ray diffraction measurements (iv) Making high quality in-situ XANES measurements (v) Publishing high impact results (vi) Developing independent funding for the research on nuclear materials This SBIR project work led to a commercial instrument product for the niche market of processing and studying materials in extreme conditions. MDI registered the trademark “Instruments for Innovation®” and sells products under this trademark. SBIR is the ideal vehicle for funding developments such as this since the total market size is relatively small meaning that venture investments to develop products cannot typically be obtained. The sale of niche market instruments for work in extreme conditions has been several million dollars over the last decade. The work to develop and build and sell this instrument has created stable high paying jobs in the technology manufacturing sector. Outreach enabled by this research helped with PhD thesis research, supported three undergraduate interns and one local high school student. In addition, several scientific articles were published, papers were presented at international conferences, and a workshop was held.« less

High wettability of liquid caesium iodine with solid uranium dioxide.

PubMed

Kurosaki, Ken; Suzuki, Masanori; Uno, Masayoshi; Ishii, Hiroto; Kumagai, Masaya; Anada, Keito; Murakami, Yukihiro; Ohishi, Yuji; Muta, Hiroaki; Tanaka, Toshihiro; Yamanaka, Shinsuke

2017-09-13

In March 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident caused nuclear fuel to melt and the release of high-volatility fission products into the environment. Caesium and iodine caused environmental contamination and public exposure. Certain fission-product behaviours remain unclear. We found experimentally that liquid CsI disperses extremely favourably toward solid UO 2 , exhibiting a contact angle approaching zero. We further observed the presence of CsI several tens of micrometres below the surface of the solid UO 2 sample, which would be caused by the infiltration of pores network by liquid CsI. Thus, volatile fission products released from molten nuclear fuels with complex internal composition and external structure migrate or evaporate to varying extents, depending on the nature of the solid-liquid interface and the fuel material surface, which becomes the pathway for the released fission products. Introducing the concept of the wettability of liquid chemical species of fission products in contact with solid fuels enabled developing accurate behavioural assessments of volatile fission products released by nuclear fuel.

Synthesis and Demonstration of the Biological Relevance of sp3 -rich Scaffolds Distantly Related to Natural Product Frameworks.

PubMed

Foley, Daniel J; Craven, Philip G E; Collins, Patrick M; Doveston, Richard G; Aimon, Anthony; Talon, Romain; Churcher, Ian; von Delft, Frank; Marsden, Stephen P; Nelson, Adam

2017-10-26

The productive exploration of chemical space is an enduring challenge in chemical biology and medicinal chemistry. Natural products are biologically relevant, and their frameworks have facilitated chemical tool and drug discovery. A "top-down" synthetic approach is described that enabled a range of complex bridged intermediates to be converted with high step efficiency into 26 diverse sp 3 -rich scaffolds. The scaffolds have local natural product-like features, but are only distantly related to specific natural product frameworks. To assess biological relevance, a set of 52 fragments was prepared, and screened by high-throughput crystallography against three targets from two protein families (ATAD2, BRD1 and JMJD2D). In each case, 3D fragment hits were identified that would serve as distinctive starting points for ligand discovery. This demonstrates that frameworks that are distantly related to natural products can facilitate discovery of new biologically relevant regions within chemical space. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Combating the counterfeits with web portal technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ting, S. L.; Ip, W. H.

2015-10-01

Due to the globalisation of counterfeiting activities, the penetration of fake products in open market is growing. So far, the technologies to combat counterfeiting are mostly applied to high-value products (e.g. premium wine and branded handbags); however, in the medium- and low-value products' perspective, there is no secure way for consumers to identify whether the purchased items are genuine or not. To address the counterfeiting problems effectively, a platform for identifying authenticated products and promoting anti-counterfeit activities is very important. The aim of this paper is to design and develop an anti-counterfeit platform which includes two functions: providing customers a secure network to ascertain the genuineness of their purchased product and increasing public awareness of the current counterfeit problems and updated anti-counterfeit solutions. By combining these two functions, it enables public to fight against fake and beware of counterfeit. Results of adopting portal technology in anti-counterfeiting show high accuracy in product checking and improved creditability. This reveals that the applicability and advantage of the proposed methodology are satisfactory.

Enabling Smart Manufacturing Research and Development using a Product Lifecycle Test Bed.

PubMed

Helu, Moneer; Hedberg, Thomas

2015-01-01

Smart manufacturing technologies require a cyber-physical infrastructure to collect and analyze data and information across the manufacturing enterprise. This paper describes a concept for a product lifecycle test bed built on a cyber-physical infrastructure that enables smart manufacturing research and development. The test bed consists of a Computer-Aided Technologies (CAx) Lab and a Manufacturing Lab that interface through the product model creating a "digital thread" of information across the product lifecycle. The proposed structure and architecture of the test bed is presented, which highlights the challenges and requirements of implementing a cyber-physical infrastructure for manufacturing. The novel integration of systems across the product lifecycle also helps identify the technologies and standards needed to enable interoperability between design, fabrication, and inspection. Potential research opportunities enabled by the test bed are also discussed, such as providing publicly accessible CAx and manufacturing reference data, virtual factory data, and a representative industrial environment for creating, prototyping, and validating smart manufacturing technologies.

Enabling Smart Manufacturing Research and Development using a Product Lifecycle Test Bed

PubMed Central

Helu, Moneer; Hedberg, Thomas

2017-01-01

Smart manufacturing technologies require a cyber-physical infrastructure to collect and analyze data and information across the manufacturing enterprise. This paper describes a concept for a product lifecycle test bed built on a cyber-physical infrastructure that enables smart manufacturing research and development. The test bed consists of a Computer-Aided Technologies (CAx) Lab and a Manufacturing Lab that interface through the product model creating a “digital thread” of information across the product lifecycle. The proposed structure and architecture of the test bed is presented, which highlights the challenges and requirements of implementing a cyber-physical infrastructure for manufacturing. The novel integration of systems across the product lifecycle also helps identify the technologies and standards needed to enable interoperability between design, fabrication, and inspection. Potential research opportunities enabled by the test bed are also discussed, such as providing publicly accessible CAx and manufacturing reference data, virtual factory data, and a representative industrial environment for creating, prototyping, and validating smart manufacturing technologies. PMID:28664167

Exploration of the fragmentation of laser shock-melted aluminum using x-ray backlighting

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Lin, E-mail: zhanglinbox@263.net, E-mail: zhanglinbox@caep.cn; Li, Ying-Hua; Li, Xue-Mei

The fragmentation of shock-melted metal material is an important scientific problem in shock physics and is suitable for experimentally investigating by the laser-driven x-ray backlighting technique. This letter reports on the exploration of laser shock-melted aluminum fragmentation by means of x-ray backlighting at the SGII high energy facility in China. High-quality and high-resolution radiographs with negligible motion blur were obtained and these images enabled analysis of the mass distribution of the fragmentation product.

Risks to health care workers from nano-enabled medical products.

PubMed

Murashov, Vladimir; Howard, John

2015-01-01

Nanotechnology is rapidly expanding into the health care industry. However, occupational safety and health risks of nano-enabled medical products have not been thoroughly assessed. This manuscript highlights occupational risk mitigation practices for nano-enabled medical products throughout their life cycle for all major workplace settings including (1) medical research laboratories, (2) pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities, (3) clinical dispensing pharmacies, (4) health care delivery facilities, (5) home health care, (6) health care support, and (7) medical waste management. It further identifies critical research needs for ensuring worker protection in the health care industry.

Manipulating environmental stresses and stress tolerance of microalgae for enhanced production of lipids and value-added products-A review.

PubMed

Chen, Bailing; Wan, Chun; Mehmood, Muhammad Aamer; Chang, Jo-Shu; Bai, Fengwu; Zhao, Xinqing

2017-11-01

Microalgae have promising potential to produce lipids and a variety of high-value chemicals. Suitable stress conditions such as nitrogen starvation and high salinity could stimulate synthesis and accumulation of lipids and high-value products by microalgae, therefore, various stress-modification strategies were developed to manipulate and optimize cultivation processes to enhance bioproduction efficiency. On the other hand, advancements in omics-based technologies have boosted the research to globally understand microalgal gene regulation under stress conditions, which enable further improvement of production efficiency via genetic engineering. Moreover, integration of multi-omics data, synthetic biology design, and genetic engineering manipulations exhibits a tremendous potential in the betterment of microalgal biorefinery. This review discusses the process manipulation strategies and omics studies on understanding the regulation of metabolite biosynthesis under various stressful conditions, and proposes genetic engineering of microalgae to improve bioproduction via manipulating stress tolerance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Numerical studies on alpha production from high energy proton beam interaction with Boron

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moustaizis, S. D.; Lalousis, P.; Hora, H.; Korn, G.

2017-05-01

Numerical investigations on high energy proton beam interaction with high density Boron plasma allows to simulate conditions concerning the alpha production from recent experimental measurements . The experiments measure the alpha production due to p11B nuclear fusion reactions when a laser-driven high energy proton beam interacts with Boron plasma produced by laser beam interaction with solid Boron. The alpha production and consequently the efficiency of the process depends on the initial proton beam energy, proton beam density, the Boron plasma density and temperature, and their temporal evolution. The main advantage for the p11B nuclear fusion reaction is the production of three alphas with total energy of 8.9 MeV, which could enhance the alpha heating effect and improve the alpha production. This particular effect is termed in the international literature as the alpha avalanche effect. Numerical results using a multi-fluid, global particle and energy balance, code shows the alpha production efficiency as a function of the initial energy of the proton beam, the Boron plasma density, the initial Boron plasma temperature and the temporal evolution of the plasma parameters. The simulations enable us to determine the interaction conditions (proton beam - B plasma) for which the alpha heating effect becomes important.

Surface-Enhanced Separation of Water from Hydrocarbons: Potential Dewatering Membranes for the Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis of Pine Biomass

DOE PAGES

Engtrakul, Dr. Chaiwat; Hu, Michael Z.; Bischoff, Brian L; ...

2016-01-01

The impact of surface-selective coatings on water permeation through a membrane when exposed to catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) vapor products was studied by tailoring the surface properties of the membrane coating from superhydrophilic to superhydrophobic. Our approach utilized high-performance architectured surface-selective (HiPAS) membranes that were inserted after a CFP reactor. At this insertion point, the inner wall surface of a tubular membrane was exposed to a mixture of water and upgraded product vapors, including light gases and deoxygenated hydrocarbons. Under proper membrane operating conditions, a high selectivity for water over 1-ring upgraded biomass pyrolysis hydrocarbons was observed due to amore » surface-enhanced capillary condensation process. Owing to this surface-enhanced effect, HiPAS membranes have the potential to enable high flux separations suggesting that water can be selectively removed from the CFP product vapors.« less

Thermally and chemically responsive nanoporous materials for efficient capture of fission product gases.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stroeve, Pieter; Faller, Roland

The objective of this project was to develop robust, high-efficiency materials for capture of fission product gases such as He, Xe and Kr in scenarios relevant for both reactor fuels and reprocessing operations. The relevant environments are extremely harsh, encompassing temperatures up to 1500 °C, high levels of radiation, as well as potential exposures to highly-reactive chemicals such as nitric acid and organic solvents such as kerosene. The requirement for nanostructured capture materials is driven in part by the very short (few micron) diffusion distances for product gases in nuclear fuel. We achieved synthesis, characterization and detailed modeling of themore » materials. Although not all materials reviewed in this report will be feasible for the ultimate goal of integration in nuclear fuel, nevertheless each material studied has particular properties which will enable an optimized material to be efficiently developed and characterized.« less

Surface-Enhanced Separation of Water from Hydrocarbons: Potential Dewatering Membranes for the Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis of Pine Biomass

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Engtrakul, Chaiwat; Hu, Michael Z.; Bischoff, Brian L.

2016-10-20

The impact of surface-selective coatings on water permeation through a membrane when exposed to catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) vapor products was studied by tailoring the surface properties of the membrane coating from superhydrophilic to superhydrophobic. Our approach used high-performance architectured surface-selective (HiPAS) membranes that were inserted after a CFP reactor. At this insertion point, the inner wall surface of a tubular membrane was exposed to a mixture of water and upgraded product vapors, including light gases and deoxygenated hydrocarbons. Under proper membrane operating conditions, a high selectivity for water over one-ring upgraded biomass pyrolysis hydrocarbons was observed as a resultmore » of a surface-enhanced capillary condensation process. Owing to this surface-enhanced effect, HiPAS membranes have the potential to enable high flux separations, suggesting that water can be selectively removed from the CFP product vapors.« less

Monolithically interconnected silicon-film™ module technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DelleDonne, E. J.; Ford, D. H.; Hall, R. B.; Ingram, A. E.; Rand, J. A.; Barnett, A. M.

1999-03-01

AstroPower is developing an advanced thin-silicon-based, photovoltaic module product. A low-cost monolithic interconnected device is being integrated into a module that combines the design and process features of advanced light trapped, thin-silicon solar cells. This advanced product incorporates a low-cost substrate, a nominally 50-μm thick grown silicon layer with minority carrier diffusion lengths exceeding the active layer thickness, light trapping due to back-surface reflection, and back-surface passivation. The thin silicon layer enables high solar cell performance and can lead to a module conversion efficiency as high as 19%. These performance design features, combined with low-cost manufacturing using relatively low-cost capital equipment, continuous processing and a low-cost substrate, will lead to high-performance, low-cost photovoltaic panels.

Optimization of the biotechnological production of a novel class of anti-MRSA antibiotics from Chitinophaga sancti.

PubMed

Beckmann, Amelie; Hüttel, Stephan; Schmitt, Viktoria; Müller, Rolf; Stadler, Marc

2017-08-17

Recently, the discovery of the elansolids, a group of macrolides, was reported. The molecules show activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus as well as other gram-positive organisms. This fact renders those substances a promising starting point for future chemical development. The active atropisomers A1/A2 are formed by macrolactonization of the biosynthesis product A3 but are prone to ring opening and subsequent formation of several unwanted side products. Recently it could be shown that addition of different nucleophiles to culture extracts of Chitinophaga sancti enable the formation of new stable elansolid derivatives. Furthermore, addition of such a nucleophile directly into the culture led exclusively to formation of a single active elansolid derivative. Due to low product yields, methods for production of gram amounts of these molecules have to be established to enable further development of this promising compound class. Production of elansolid A2 by C. sancti was enabled using a synthetic medium with sucrose as carbon source to a final concentration of 18.9 mg L -1 . A fed-batch fermentation was ensued that resulted in an elansolid A2 concentration of 55.3 mg L -1 . When using glucose as carbon source in a fed-batch fermentation only 34.4 mg L -1 elansolid A2 but 223.1 mg L -1 elansolid C1 were produced. This finding was not unexpected since elansolids A1/A2 and A3 have been reported to easily react with nucleophiles like anthranilic acid, a precursor of tryptophan biosynthesis. Due to the fact that nucleophiles can be incorporated in vivo, a fed-batch cultivation under identical conditions, with addition of anthranilic acid was carried out and lead to almost exclusive formation of elansolid C1 (257.5 mg L -1 ). Reproducible elansolid A2 and C1 production is feasible in different synthetic media at relatively high concentrations that will allow further investigation and semi-synthetic optimization. The feeding of anthranilic acid enables the exclusive production of the stable elansolid derivative C1, which reduces product loss by unspecific reactions and eases downstream processing. This derivative shows activity in the same range as the elansolids A1/A2. Hence, the method can possibly serve as a model-process for incorporation of other nucleophiles and biotechnological production of specifically designed molecules.

Enantioselective ProPhenol-catalyzed addition of 1,3-diynes to aldehydes to generate synthetically versatile building blocks and diyne natural products.

PubMed

Trost, Barry M; Chan, Vincent S; Yamamoto, Daisuke

2010-04-14

A highly enantioselective method for the catalytic addition of terminal 1,3-diynes to aldehydes was developed using our dinuclear zinc ProPhenol (1) system. Furthermore, triphenylphosphine oxide was found to interact synergistically with the catalyst to substantially enhance the chiral recognition. The generality of this catalytic transformation was demonstrated with aryl, alpha,beta-unsaturated and saturated aldehydes, of which the latter were previously limited in alkynyl zinc additions. The chiral diynol products are also versatile building blocks that can be readily elaborated; this was illustrated through highly selective trans-hydrosilylations, which enabled the synthesis of a beta-hydroxyketone and enyne. Additionally, the development of this method allowed for the rapid total syntheses of several biologically important diynol-containing natural products.

Al-Li-Cu-Mg-(Ag) Products for Lower Wing Skin Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karabin, L. M.; Bray, G. H.; Rioja, R. J.; Venema, G.

Al-Li-Cu-Mg alloy products, with and without Ag additions provide substantial performance advantages over conventional 2xxx products. For lower wing applications, the combination of specific ultimate tensile strength and damage tolerance is of particular importance and this is an area in which the Al-Li alloys can excel. Since Al-Li products have historically suffered with issues surrounding high property gradients through the plate thickness and high degrees of tensile in-plane anisotropy, a great deal of attention has been paid to the thermo-mechanical processing routes used in the fabrication of the current generation of alloy products. In addition, corrosion resistance is an area that has received greater attention recently since it can impact inspection intervals. In this presentation, the microstructures and properties of two new alloy products aimed for lower wing applications, 2199-T86 and 2060-T8E86, will be reviewed and compared with non-Li 2xxx products. It is concluded that the performance improvements of Al-Li alloys/products in addition to their lower density will enable significant weight savings in modern aircraft.

Wafer-level manufacturing technology of glass microlenses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gossner, U.; Hoeftmann, T.; Wieland, R.; Hansch, W.

2014-08-01

In high-tech products, there is an increasing demand to integrate glass lenses into complex micro systems. Especially in the lighting industry LEDs and laser diodes used for automotive applications require encapsulated micro lenses. To enable low-cost production, manufacturing of micro lenses on wafer level base using a replication technology is a key technology. This requires accurate forming of thousands of lenses with a diameter of 1-2 mm on a 200 mm wafer compliant with mass production. The article will discuss the technical aspects of a lens manufacturing replication process and the challenges, which need to be solved: choice of an appropriate master for replication, thermally robust interlayer coating, choice of replica glass, bonding and separation procedure. A promising approach for the master substrate material is based on a lens structured high-quality glass wafer with high melting point covered by a coating layer of amorphous silicon or germanium. This layer serves as an interlayer for the glass bonding process. Low pressure chemical vapor deposition and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition processes allow a deposition of layer coatings with different hydrogen and doping content influencing their chemical and physical behavior. A time reduced molding process using a float glass enables the formation of high quality lenses while preserving the recyclability of the mother substrate. The challenge is the separation of the replica from the master mold. An overview of chemical methods based on optimized etching of coating layer through small channels will be given and the impact of glass etching on surface roughness is discussed.

Feasibility study on medical isotope production using a compact neutron generator.

PubMed

Leung, Ka-Ngo; Leung, James K; Melville, Graeme

2018-07-01

Compact neutron generators can provide high flux of neutrons with energies ranging from thermal (0.025 eV) to 14 MeV. Recent measurements demonstrated high neutron yields from the D- 7 Li fusion reaction at an interaction energy of 500 keV. Using the D- 7 Li reaction and applying new advancements in high flux neutron generator technology along with the commercial availability of high voltage DC power supplies enables the production of useful quantities of radioisotopes for medical applications. Using the known neutron reaction cross-sections, it has been estimated that hundreds-to-thousands MBq (or tens-to-hundreds mCi) of 99 Mo, 225 Ac, 64 Cu and 67 Cu can be obtained from a compact high flux neutron generator. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Natural and engineered biosynthesis of fluorinated natural products.

PubMed

Walker, Mark C; Chang, Michelle C Y

2014-09-21

Both natural products and synthetic organofluorines play important roles in the discovery and design of pharmaceuticals. The combination of these two classes of molecules has the potential to be useful in the ongoing search for new bioactive compounds but our ability to produce site-selectively fluorinated natural products remains limited by challenges in compatibility between their high structural complexity and current methods for fluorination. Living systems provide an alternative route to chemical fluorination and could enable the production of organofluorine natural products through synthetic biology approaches. While the identification of biogenic organofluorines has been limited, the study of the native organisms and enzymes that utilize these compounds can help to guide efforts to engineer the incorporation of this unusual element into complex pharmacologically active natural products. This review covers recent advances in understanding both natural and engineered production of organofluorine natural products.

High-quality digital color xerography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takiguchi, Koichi

1993-06-01

Image noise, tone reproduction, color reproduction, fine line reproduction, and OHP performance are the most important characteristics for a high quality color copier. Technologies enabling such quality are use of fine toner, halftone algorithm to ensure good highlight reproduction, soft roll fuser with good release performance, smooth surface and high thermal conductivity, white and smooth paper, and selection of a coating material for the surface layer of the OHP sheets. These technologies are integrated in the Fuji Xerox `A- Color' product. Utilizing 7 micrometers color toner, `A-Color' can make very high quality color copies.

PAH/Aromatic Tar and Coke Precursor Formation in the Early Stages of Triglyceride (Triolein) Pyrolysis.

PubMed

Alhroub, Ibrahim; Kozliak, Evguenii; Kubátová, Alena; Sulkes, Mark

2018-03-29

There has been a limited understanding of high MW polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) product chemistry in the pyrolysis of triglycerides (TGs), though the subject has important implications for both fuel production from TGs and food science. Previous TG pyrolysis studies have been able to identify only relatively low MW GC-elutable aromatics occurring in the bulk liquid phase; products occurring in the solid phase have remained inaccessible to chemical analysis. In contrast, cold gas expansion molecular beam methods, where pyrolysis products are analyzed in real time as they are entrained in gas expansions, remove product collection difficulties, thereby allowing for analysis of coke/tar PAH precursors. In this study, the model TG triolein was heated and the ensuing products in the molecular beam were soft photoionized, enabling time-of-flight mass detection. Use of 266 nm pulses enabled selective photoionization of aromatic products. Unlike previous work on analysis of the liquid phase TG cracking products, a different and distinct pattern of rather large PAHs, up to 444 amu, was observed, at nontrivial relative product fractions. With an increase of temperature to ∼350 °C, a small number of PAHs with MW ≥ 276 amu increasingly dominated the aromatic product distribution. Surprisingly, PAH product detection ensued at rather low temperatures, as low as ∼260 °C. For tentative PAH product identification and product chemistry rationalization, we observed the product homology pattern and applied a stoichiometric analysis. The latter, combined with the known homology profiles of TG cracking products, indicated specific patterns of intermediate fragment association that facilitated large-MW PAH formation as a result of TG cracking.

Benefits of jasmonate-dependent defenses against vertebrate herbivores in nature.

PubMed

Machado, Ricardo Ar; McClure, Mark; Hervé, Maxime R; Baldwin, Ian T; Erb, Matthias

2016-06-29

Endogenous jasmonates are important regulators of plant defenses. If and how they enable plants to maintain their reproductive output when facing community-level herbivory under natural conditions, however, remains unknown. We demonstrate that jasmonate-deficient Nicotiana attenuata plants suffer more damage by arthropod and vertebrate herbivores than jasmonate-producing plants in nature. However, only damage by vertebrate herbivores translates into a significant reduction in flower production. Vertebrate stem peeling has the strongest negative impact on plant flower production. Stems are defended by jasmonate-dependent nicotine, and the native cottontail rabbit Sylvilagus nuttallii avoids jasmonate-producing N. attenuata shoots because of their high levels of nicotine. Thus, endogenous jasmonates enable plants to resist different types of herbivores in nature, and jasmonate-dependent defenses are important for plants to maintain their reproductive potential when facing vertebrate herbivory. Ecological and evolutionary models on plant defense signaling should aim at integrating arthropod and vertebrate herbivory at the community level.

Investigation of Space Interferometer Control Using Imaging Sensor Output Feedback

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leitner, Jesse A.; Cheng, Victor H. L.

2003-01-01

Numerous space interferometry missions are planned for the next decade to verify different enabling technologies towards very-long-baseline interferometry to achieve high-resolution imaging and high-precision measurements. These objectives will require coordinated formations of spacecraft separately carrying optical elements comprising the interferometer. High-precision sensing and control of the spacecraft and the interferometer-component payloads are necessary to deliver sub-wavelength accuracy to achieve the scientific objectives. For these missions, the primary scientific product of interferometer measurements may be the only source of data available at the precision required to maintain the spacecraft and interferometer-component formation. A concept is studied for detecting the interferometer's optical configuration errors based on information extracted from the interferometer sensor output. It enables precision control of the optical components, and, in cases of space interferometers requiring formation flight of spacecraft that comprise the elements of a distributed instrument, it enables the control of the formation-flying vehicles because independent navigation or ranging sensors cannot deliver the high-precision metrology over the entire required geometry. Since the concept can act on the quality of the interferometer output directly, it can detect errors outside the capability of traditional metrology instruments, and provide the means needed to augment the traditional instrumentation to enable enhanced performance. Specific analyses performed in this study include the application of signal-processing and image-processing techniques to solve the problems of interferometer aperture baseline control, interferometer pointing, and orientation of multiple interferometer aperture pairs.

Hybrid enabled thin film metrology using XPS and optical

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vaid, Alok; Iddawela, Givantha; Mahendrakar, Sridhar; Lenahan, Michael; Hossain, Mainul; Timoney, Padraig; Bello, Abner F.; Bozdog, Cornel; Pois, Heath; Lee, Wei Ti; Klare, Mark; Kwan, Michael; Kang, Byung Cheol; Isbester, Paul; Sendelbach, Matthew; Yellai, Naren; Dasari, Prasad; Larson, Tom

2016-03-01

Complexity of process steps integration and material systems for next-generation technology nodes is reaching unprecedented levels, the appetite for higher sampling rates is on the rise, while the process window continues to shrink. Current thickness metrology specifications reach as low as 0.1A for total error budget - breathing new life into an old paradigm with lower visibility for past few metrology nodes: accuracy. Furthermore, for advance nodes there is growing demand to measure film thickness and composition on devices/product instead of surrogate planar simpler pads. Here we extend our earlier work in Hybrid Metrology to the combination of X-Ray based reference technologies (high performance) with optical high volume manufacturing (HVM) workhorse metrology (high throughput). Our stated goal is: put more "eyes" on the wafer (higher sampling) and enable move to films on pattern structure (control what matters). Examples of 1X front-end applications are used to setup and validate the benefits.

Large-scale synthesis of arrays of high-aspect-ratio rigid vertically aligned carbon nanofibres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melechko, A. V.; McKnight, T. E.; Hensley, D. K.; Guillorn, M. A.; Borisevich, A. Y.; Merkulov, V. I.; Lowndes, D. H.; Simpson, M. L.

2003-09-01

We report on techniques for catalytic synthesis of rigid, high-aspect-ratio, vertically aligned carbon nanofibres by dc plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition that are tailored for applications that require arrays of individual fibres that feature long fibre lengths (up to 20 µm) such as scanning probe microscopy, penetrant cell and tissue probing arrays and mechanical insertion approaches for gene delivery to cell cultures. We demonstrate that the definition of catalyst nanoparticles is the critical step that enables growth of individual, long-length fibres and discuss methods for catalyst particle preparation that allow the growth of individual isolated nanofibres from catalyst dots with diameters as large as 500 nm. This development enables photolithographic definition of catalyst and therefore the inexpensive, large-scale production of such arrays.

Label-assisted mass spectrometry for the acceleration of reaction discovery and optimization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cabrera-Pardo, Jaime R.; Chai, David I.; Liu, Song; Mrksich, Milan; Kozmin, Sergey A.

2013-05-01

The identification of new reactions expands our knowledge of chemical reactivity and enables new synthetic applications. Accelerating the pace of this discovery process remains challenging. We describe a highly effective and simple platform for screening a large number of potential chemical reactions in order to discover and optimize previously unknown catalytic transformations, thereby revealing new chemical reactivity. Our strategy is based on labelling one of the reactants with a polyaromatic chemical tag, which selectively undergoes a photoionization/desorption process upon laser irradiation, without the assistance of an external matrix, and enables rapid mass spectrometric detection of any products originating from such labelled reactants in complex reaction mixtures without any chromatographic separation. This method was successfully used for high-throughput discovery and subsequent optimization of two previously unknown benzannulation reactions.

Two-Dimensional Covalent Organic Frameworks for Carbon Dioxide Capture through Channel-Wall Functionalization

PubMed Central

Huang, Ning; Chen, Xiong; Krishna, Rajamani; Jiang, Donglin

2015-01-01

Ordered open channels found in two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks (2D COFs) could enable them to adsorb carbon dioxide. However, the frameworks’ dense layer architecture results in low porosity that has thus far restricted their potential for carbon dioxide adsorption. Here we report a strategy for converting a conventional 2D COF into an outstanding platform for carbon dioxide capture through channel-wall functionalization. The dense layer structure enables the dense integration of functional groups on the channel walls, creating a new version of COFs with high capacity, reusability, selectivity, and separation productivity for flue gas. These results suggest that channel-wall functional engineering could be a facile and powerful strategy to develop 2D COFs for high-performance gas storage and separation. PMID:25613010

Infrared Spectral Radiance Intercomparisons With Satellite and Aircraft Sensors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Larar, Allen M.; Zhou, Daniel K.; Liu, Xu; Smith, William L.

2014-01-01

Measurement system validation is critical for advanced satellite sounders to reach their full potential of improving observations of the Earth's atmosphere, clouds, and surface for enabling enhancements in weather prediction, climate monitoring capability, and environmental change detection. Experimental field campaigns, focusing on satellite under-flights with well-calibrated FTS sensors aboard high-altitude aircraft, are an essential part of the validation task. Airborne FTS systems can enable an independent, SI-traceable measurement system validation by directly measuring the same level-1 parameters spatially and temporally coincident with the satellite sensor of interest. Continuation of aircraft under-flights for multiple satellites during multiple field campaigns enables long-term monitoring of system performance and inter-satellite cross-validation. The NASA / NPOESS Airborne Sounder Testbed - Interferometer (NAST-I) has been a significant contributor in this area by providing coincident high spectral/spatial resolution observations of infrared spectral radiances along with independently-retrieved geophysical products for comparison with like products from satellite sensors being validated. This presentation gives an overview of benefits achieved using airborne sensors such as NAST-I utilizing examples from recent field campaigns. The methodology implemented is not only beneficial to new sensors such as the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) flying aboard the Suomi NPP and future JPSS satellites but also of significant benefit to sensors of longer flight heritage such as the Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIRS) and the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) on the AQUA and METOP-A platforms, respectively, to ensure data quality continuity important for climate and other applications. Infrared spectral radiance inter-comparisons are discussed with a particular focus on usage of NAST-I data for enabling inter-platform cross-validation.

SLAE–CPS: Smart Lean Automation Engine Enabled by Cyber-Physical Systems Technologies

PubMed Central

Ma, Jing; Wang, Qiang; Zhao, Zhibiao

2017-01-01

In the context of Industry 4.0, the demand for the mass production of highly customized products will lead to complex products and an increasing demand for production system flexibility. Simply implementing lean production-based human-centered production or high automation to improve system flexibility is insufficient. Currently, lean automation (Jidoka) that utilizes cyber-physical systems (CPS) is considered a cost-efficient and effective approach for improving system flexibility under shrinking global economic conditions. Therefore, a smart lean automation engine enabled by CPS technologies (SLAE–CPS), which is based on an analysis of Jidoka functions and the smart capacity of CPS technologies, is proposed in this study to provide an integrated and standardized approach to design and implement a CPS-based smart Jidoka system. A set of comprehensive architecture and standardized key technologies should be presented to achieve the above-mentioned goal. Therefore, a distributed architecture that joins service-oriented architecture, agent, function block (FB), cloud, and Internet of things is proposed to support the flexible configuration, deployment, and performance of SLAE–CPS. Then, several standardized key techniques are proposed under this architecture. The first one is for converting heterogeneous physical data into uniform services for subsequent abnormality analysis and detection. The second one is a set of Jidoka scene rules, which is abstracted based on the analysis of the operator, machine, material, quality, and other factors in different time dimensions. These Jidoka rules can support executive FBs in performing different Jidoka functions. Finally, supported by the integrated and standardized approach of our proposed engine, a case study is conducted to verify the current research results. The proposed SLAE–CPS can serve as an important reference value for combining the benefits of innovative technology and proper methodology. PMID:28657577

SLAE-CPS: Smart Lean Automation Engine Enabled by Cyber-Physical Systems Technologies.

PubMed

Ma, Jing; Wang, Qiang; Zhao, Zhibiao

2017-06-28

In the context of Industry 4.0, the demand for the mass production of highly customized products will lead to complex products and an increasing demand for production system flexibility. Simply implementing lean production-based human-centered production or high automation to improve system flexibility is insufficient. Currently, lean automation (Jidoka) that utilizes cyber-physical systems (CPS) is considered a cost-efficient and effective approach for improving system flexibility under shrinking global economic conditions. Therefore, a smart lean automation engine enabled by CPS technologies (SLAE-CPS), which is based on an analysis of Jidoka functions and the smart capacity of CPS technologies, is proposed in this study to provide an integrated and standardized approach to design and implement a CPS-based smart Jidoka system. A set of comprehensive architecture and standardized key technologies should be presented to achieve the above-mentioned goal. Therefore, a distributed architecture that joins service-oriented architecture, agent, function block (FB), cloud, and Internet of things is proposed to support the flexible configuration, deployment, and performance of SLAE-CPS. Then, several standardized key techniques are proposed under this architecture. The first one is for converting heterogeneous physical data into uniform services for subsequent abnormality analysis and detection. The second one is a set of Jidoka scene rules, which is abstracted based on the analysis of the operator, machine, material, quality, and other factors in different time dimensions. These Jidoka rules can support executive FBs in performing different Jidoka functions. Finally, supported by the integrated and standardized approach of our proposed engine, a case study is conducted to verify the current research results. The proposed SLAE-CPS can serve as an important reference value for combining the benefits of innovative technology and proper methodology.

Microbial Cell Factories for the Production of Terpenoid Flavor and Fragrance Compounds.

PubMed

Schempp, Florence M; Drummond, Laura; Buchhaupt, Markus; Schrader, Jens

2018-03-14

Terpenoid flavor and fragrance compounds are of high interest to the aroma industry. Microbial production offers an alternative sustainable access to the desired terpenoids independent of natural sources. Genetically engineered microorganisms can be used to synthesize terpenoids from cheap and renewable resources. Due to its modular architecture, terpenoid biosynthesis is especially well suited for the microbial cell factory concept: a platform host engineered for a high flux toward the central C 5 prenyl diphosphate precursors enables the production of a broad range of target terpenoids just by varying the pathway modules converting the C 5 intermediates to the product of interest. In this review typical terpenoid flavor and fragrance compounds marketed or under development by biotech and aroma companies are given, and the specificities of the aroma market are discussed. The main part of this work focuses on key strategies and recent advances to engineer microbes to become efficient terpenoid producers.

Systems-Level Synthetic Biology for Advanced Biofuel Production

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ruffing, Anne; Jensen, Travis J.; Strickland, Lucas Marshall

2015-03-01

Cyanobacteria have been shown to be capable of producing a variety of advanced biofuels; however, product yields remain well below those necessary for large scale production. New genetic tools and high throughput metabolic engineering techniques are needed to optimize cyanobacterial metabolisms for enhanced biofuel production. Towards this goal, this project advances the development of a multiple promoter replacement technique for systems-level optimization of gene expression in a model cyanobacterial host: Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002. To realize this multiple-target approach, key capabilities were developed, including a high throughput detection method for advanced biofuels, enhanced transformation efficiency, and genetic tools for Synechococcusmore » sp. PCC 7002. Moreover, several additional obstacles were identified for realization of this multiple promoter replacement technique. The techniques and tools developed in this project will help to enable future efforts in the advancement of cyanobacterial biofuels.« less

Advances in utilization of renewable substrates for biosurfactant production

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Biosurfactants are amphiphilic molecules that have both hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties which partition preferentially at the interfaces such as liquid/liquid, gas/liquid or solid/liquid interfaces. Such characteristics enable emulsifying, foaming, detergency and dispersing properties. Their low toxicity and environmental friendly nature and the wide range of potential industrial applications in bioremediation, health care, oil and food processing industries makes them a highly sought after group of chemical compounds. Interest in them has also been encouraged because of the potential advantages they offer over their synthetic counterparts in many fields spanning environmental, food, biomedical, petrochemical and other industrial applications. Their large scale production and application however are currently restricted by the high cost of production and by the limited understanding of their interactions with cells and with the abiotic environment. In this paper, we review the current knowledge and latest advances in the search for cost effective renewable agro industrial alternative substrates for their production. PMID:21906330

Evaporative light scattering detector in normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography determination of FAME oxidation products.

PubMed

Morales, Arturo; Marmesat, Susana; Dobarganes, M Carmen; Márquez-Ruiz, Gloria; Velasco, Joaquín

2012-09-07

The use of an ELS detector in NP-HPLC for quantitative analysis of oxidation products in FAME obtained from oils is evaluated in this study. The results obtained have shown that the ELS detector enables the quantitative determination of the hydroperoxides of oleic and linoleic acid methyl esters as a whole, and connected in series with a UV detector makes it possible to determine both groups of compounds by difference, providing useful complementary information. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) found for hydroperoxides were respectively 2.5 and 5.7 μg mL⁻¹ and precision of quantitation expressed as coefficient of variation was lower than 10%. Due to a low sensitivity the ELS detector shows limitations to determine the low contents of secondary oxidation products in the direct analysis of FAME oxidized at low or moderate temperature. Analysis of FAME samples obtained either from high linoleic sunflower oil (HLSO) or high oleic sunflower oil (HOSO) and oxidized at 80 °C showed that only ketodienes formed from methyl linoleate can be determined in samples with relatively high oxidation, being the LOD and LOQ 0.2 and 0.4 mg/g FAME, respectively, at the analytical conditions applied. The ELS detector also enabled the determination of methyl cis-9,10-epoxystearate and methyl trans-9,10-epoxystearate, which were resolved at the chromatographic conditions applied. Results showed that these compounds, which are formed from methyl oleate, were not detected in the high-linoleic sample, but occurred at non-negligible levels in the oxidized FAME obtained from HOSO. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Low-cost, High-yield Process for the Direct Productin of High Energy Density Liquid Fuel from Biomass

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Agrawal, Rakesh; Delgass, W. N.; Ribeiro, F.

2013-08-31

The primary objective and outcome of this project was the development and validation of a novel, low-cost, high-pressure fast-hydropyrolysis/hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) process (H 2Bioil) using supplementary hydrogen (H 2) to produce liquid hydrocarbons from biomass. The research efforts under the various tasks of the project have culminated in the first experimental demonstration of the H 2Bioil process, producing 100% deoxygenated >C4+ hydrocarbons containing 36-40% of the carbon in the feed of pyrolysis products from biomass. The demonstrated H{sub 2}Bioil process technology (i.e. reactor, catalyst, and downstream product recovery) is scalable to a commercial level and is estimated to be economically competitivemore » for the cases when supplementary H 2 is sourced from coal, natural gas, or nuclear. Additionally, energy systems modeling has revealed several process integration options based on the H 2Bioilprocess for energy and carbon efficient liquid fuel production. All project tasks and milestones were completed or exceeded. Novel, commercially-scalable, high-pressure reactors for both fast-hydropyrolysis and hydrodeoxygenation were constructed, completing Task A. These reactors were capable of operation under a wide-range of conditions; enabling process studies that lead to identification of optimum process conditions. Model compounds representing biomass pyrolysis products were studied, completing Task B. These studies were critical in identifying and developing HDO catalysts to target specific oxygen functional groups. These process and model compound catalyst studies enabled identification of catalysts that achieved 100% deoxygenation of the real biomass feedstock, sorghum, to form hydrocarbons in high yields as part of Task C. The work completed during this grant has identified and validated the novel and commercially scalable H 2Bioil process for production of hydrocarbon fuels from biomass. Studies on model compounds as well as real biomass feedstocks were utilized to identify optimized process conditions and selective HDO catalyst for high yield production of hydrocarbons from biomass. In addition to these experimental efforts, in Tasks D and E, we have developed a mathematical optimization framework to identify carbon and energy efficient biomass-to-liquid fuel process designs that integrate the use of different primary energy sources along with biomass (e.g. solar, coal or natural gas) for liquid fuel production. Using this tool, we have identified augmented biomass-to-liquid fuel configurations based on the fast-hydropyrolysis/HDO pathway, which was experimentally studied in this project. The computational approach used for screening alternative process configurations represents a unique contribution to the field of biomass processing for liquid fuel production.« less

High capacity of lithium-sulfur batteries at low electrolyte/sulfur ratio enabled by an organosulfide containing electrolyte

DOE PAGES

Chen, Shuru; Gao, Yue; Yu, Zhaoxin; ...

2016-11-30

We present that lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery is a promising energy storage technology to replace lithium ion batteries for higher energy density and lower cost. Dissolution of lithium polysulfide intermediates in conventional Li-S electrolytes is known as one of the key technical barriers to the development of Li-S, because it promotes redistribution and irreversible deposition of Li 2S, and also forces large amounts of electrolyte to be used, shortening cycling life and driving down cell energy density. Recently, dimethyl disulfide as a functional co-solvent has been demonstrated to show an alternate electrochemical reaction pathway for sulfur cathodes by the formation ofmore » dimethyl polysulfides and lithium organosulfides as intermediates and reduction products. In this work, comprehensive studies show that this new pathway not only provides high capacity but also enables excellent capacity retention through a built-in automatic discharge shutoff mechanism by tuning carbon/sulfur ratio in sulfur cathodes to reduce unfavorable Li 2S formation. Furthermore, this new electrolyte system is also found to enable high capacity of high-sulfur-loading cathodes with low electrolyte/sulfur (E/S) ratios, such as a stable specific capacity of around 1000 mAh g -1 using a low electrolyte amount (i.e, E/S ratio of 5 mL g -1) and highsulfur-loading (4 mg cm -2) cathodes. This electrolyte system almost doubles the capacity obtained with conventional electrolytes under the same harsh conditions. In conclusion, these results highlight the practical potential of this electrolyte system to enable high-energy-density Li-S batteries.« less

High capacity of lithium-sulfur batteries at low electrolyte/sulfur ratio enabled by an organosulfide containing electrolyte

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, Shuru; Gao, Yue; Yu, Zhaoxin

We present that lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery is a promising energy storage technology to replace lithium ion batteries for higher energy density and lower cost. Dissolution of lithium polysulfide intermediates in conventional Li-S electrolytes is known as one of the key technical barriers to the development of Li-S, because it promotes redistribution and irreversible deposition of Li 2S, and also forces large amounts of electrolyte to be used, shortening cycling life and driving down cell energy density. Recently, dimethyl disulfide as a functional co-solvent has been demonstrated to show an alternate electrochemical reaction pathway for sulfur cathodes by the formation ofmore » dimethyl polysulfides and lithium organosulfides as intermediates and reduction products. In this work, comprehensive studies show that this new pathway not only provides high capacity but also enables excellent capacity retention through a built-in automatic discharge shutoff mechanism by tuning carbon/sulfur ratio in sulfur cathodes to reduce unfavorable Li 2S formation. Furthermore, this new electrolyte system is also found to enable high capacity of high-sulfur-loading cathodes with low electrolyte/sulfur (E/S) ratios, such as a stable specific capacity of around 1000 mAh g -1 using a low electrolyte amount (i.e, E/S ratio of 5 mL g -1) and highsulfur-loading (4 mg cm -2) cathodes. This electrolyte system almost doubles the capacity obtained with conventional electrolytes under the same harsh conditions. In conclusion, these results highlight the practical potential of this electrolyte system to enable high-energy-density Li-S batteries.« less

Competitive horseradish peroxidase-linked aptamer assay for sensitive detection of Aflatoxin B1.

PubMed

Sun, Linlin; Zhao, Qiang

2018-03-01

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is one of highly toxic mycotoxins and a known human carcinogen. The frequent contamination of AFB1 in food products and large health risk of AFB1 have raised global concerns. Sensitive detection of AFB1 is of vital importance and highly demanded. Herein, we reported a competitive horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-linked aptamer assay for AFB1, combining the advantages of aptamer for affinity binding and enzyme label for signal amplification. In this assay, free AFB1 in solution competed with a covalent conjugate of bovine serum albumin-AFB1 (BSA-AFB1) coated on the wells of microplate in binding to the HRP-labeled aptamer probe. HRP attached on BSA-AFB1 in the wells catalyzed the conversion of substrates into products, allowing the final detection of AFB1 through measurement of the generated products. When TMB (3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine dihydrochloride) was used as substrate, absorbance analysis of the product of enzyme reaction enabled the detection of AFB1 at 0.2nM. We further lowered the detection limit of AFB1 to 0.01nM through chemiluminescence analysis by using chemiluminescence substrate of HRP. This assay enabled the detection of AFB1 in complex sample matrix, such as diluted white wine and maize flour. This assay provides a simple, sensitive and rapid method for AFB1 determination. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Algal Supply System Design - Harmonized Version

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Abodeely, Jared; Stevens, Daniel; Ray, Allison

2013-03-01

The objective of this design report is to provide an assessment of current technologies used for production, dewatering, and converting microalgae cultivated in open-pond systems to biofuel. The original draft design was created in 2011 and has subsequently been brought into agreement with the DOE harmonized model. The design report extends beyond this harmonized model to discuss some of the challenges with assessing algal production systems, including the ability to (1) quickly assess alternative algal production system designs, (2) assess spatial and temporal variability, and (3) perform large-scale assessments considering multiple scenarios for thousands of potential sites. The Algae Logisticsmore » Model (ALM) was developed to address each of these limitations of current modeling efforts to enable assessment of the economic feasibility of algal production systems across the United States. The (ALM) enables (1) dynamic assessments using spatiotemporal conditions, (2) exploration of algal production system design configurations, (3) investigation of algal production system operating assumptions, and (4) trade-off assessments with technology decisions and operating assumptions. The report discusses results from the ALM, which is used to assess the baseline design determined by harmonization efforts between U.S. DOE national laboratories. Productivity and resource assessment data is provided by coupling the ALM with the Biomass Assessment Tool developed at PNNL. This high-fidelity data is dynamically passed to the ALM and used to help better understand the impacts of spatial and temporal constraints on algal production systems by providing a cost for producing extracted algal lipids annually for each potential site.« less

Determination of suitability of natural Polish resources for production of ceramic proppants applied in gas exploration from European shale formations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szymanska, Joanna; Mizera, Jaroslaw

2017-04-01

Poland is one of few European countries undertaking innovative research towards effective exploration of hydrocarbons form shale deposits. With regard for strict geological conditions, which occur during hydraulic fracturing, it is required to apply ceramic proppants enhancing extraction of shale gas. Ceramic proppants are granules (16/30 - 70/120 Mesh) classified as propping agents. These granules located in the newly created fissures (due to injected high pressure fluid) in the shale rock, act as a prop, what enables gas flow up the well. It occurs if the proppants can resist high stress of the closing fractures. Commonly applied proppants are quartz sands used only for shallow reservoirs and fissile shales (in the USA). Whereas, the ceramic granules are proper for extraction of gas on the high depths at hard geomechanical conditions (in Europe) to increase output even by 30 - 50%. In comparison to other propping materials, this kind of proppants predominate with mechanical strength, smoother surface, lower solubility in acids and also high stability in water. Such parameters can be available through proper raw materials selection to further proppants production. The Polish ceramic proppants are produced from natural resources as kaolin, bauxite and white clay mixed with water and binders. Afterwards, the slurries are subjected to granulation in a mechanical granulator and sintered at high temperatures (1200 - 1550°C). Taking into consideration presence of geomechanical barriers, that prevent fracture propagation beyond shale formations, it is crucial to determine quality of applied natural deposits. Next step is to optimize the proppants production and select the best kind of granules, what was the aim of this research. Utility of the raw materials was estimated on basis of their particle size distribution, bulk density, specific surface area (BET) and thermal analysis (thermogravimetry). Morphology and shape were determined by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) enabled analysis of their chemical composition, what was compared with X-ray fluorescence (XRF) results. Crystallinity of the raw compounds was established by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Characterization of loamy materials enabled evaluation of their impact on ceramic slurries preparation for further granulation and sintering. The proppants were analyzed with X-Ray Tomography to determine their shape and pore distribution. 3D models also enabled prediction of proppant settlement in the fracture. The crucial parameter as mechanical strength, that influences the integrity of created fractures (fines exceeding 1 % reduce fracture conductivity), was established during the crush tests. High roundness coefficient, uniformity and bulk density results informed about stability of the prop. Environmental proppants interaction was evaluated by turbidity and solubility in acid measurements, which reflect a threat of the proppants decay in the well. The obtained outcomes prove the utility of applied natural resources in the granules production. In consequence, the obtained proppants can be used for hydraulic fracturing in high pressure, temperature and low permeable shale formations. The granules fulfil the norms thus are prospective on a global proppants market.

Semi-quantitative analysis of solid waste flows from nano-enabled consumer products in Europe, Denmark and the United Kingdom - Abundance, distribution and management.

PubMed

Heggelund, Laura; Hansen, Steffen Foss; Astrup, Thomas Fruergaard; Boldrin, Alessio

2016-10-01

Many nano-enabled consumer products are known to be in the global market. At the same, little is known about the quantity, type, location etc. of the engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) inside the products. This limits the scientific investigations of potential environmental effects of these materials, and especially the knowledge of ENM behaviour and potential effects at the end-of-life stage of the products is scarce. To gain a better understanding of the end-of-life waste treatment of nano-enabled consumer product, we provide an overview of the ENMs flowing into and throughout waste systems in Europe, Denmark and the United Kingdom. Using a nanoproduct inventory (nanodb.dk), we performed a four-step analysis to estimate the most abundant ENMs and in which waste fractions they are present. We found that in terms of number of products: (i) nano silver is the most used ENM in consumer products, and (ii) plastic from used product containers is the largest waste fraction also comprising a large variety of ENMs, though possibly in very small masses. Also, we showed that the local waste management system can influence the distribution of ENMs. It is recommended that future research focus on recycling and landfilling of nano-enabled products since these compartments represent hot spots for end-of-life nanoproducts. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rheological behavior of highly loaded cellulose nanocrystal/poly(vinyl alcohol) composite suspensions

Treesearch

Caitlin E. Meree; Gregory T. Schueneman; J. Carson Meredith; Meisha L. Shofner

2016-01-01

Recent emphasis on the pilot scale production of cellulosic nanomaterials has increased interest in the effective use of these materials as reinforcements for polymer composites. An important, enabling step to realizing the potential of cellulosic nanomaterials in their applications is the materials processing of CNC/polymer composites through multiple routes, i.e....

Wireless Rover Meets 3D Design and Product Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deal, Walter F., III; Hsiung, Steve C.

2016-01-01

Today there are a number of 3D printing technologies that are low cost and within the budgets of middle and high school programs. Educational technology companies offer a variety of 3D printing technologies and parallel curriculum materials to enable technology and engineering teachers to easily add 3D learning activities to their programs.…

Phosphorus and potassium cycling in a long-term no-till integrated soybean-beef cattle production system under different grazing intensities in subtropics

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Long-term crop-livestock integration enables constant and high nutrient cycling because animal, pasture and crop residues release nutrients at different rates. Therefore, appropriate management of these systems is needed to maximize the benefits of nutrient cycling. The objective of this study was t...

Production of the sunn hemp cultivars 'AU Golden' and 'AU Durbin developed by Auburn University

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.) is the fastest growing species of the genus Crotalaria and is the most widely grown green manure in the tropics. Sunn hemp is also adapted to a wide range of conditions and soil types, while still producing high biomass yields. These characteristics enable the crop...

Faculty-Department Chair Relationships: Examining the Nexus of Empowerment and Interpersonal Trust in Community Colleges in the Context of Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moye, Melina J.; Henkin, Alan B.; Floyd, Deborah J.

2006-01-01

The concept of interpersonal trust has been linked to empowerment. Managerial-practices literature has asserted that trust strengthens relationships and enables empowerment, which may result in increments in individual performance and organizational productivity. High levels of mutual trust and empowering work environments ostensibly reinforce…

Vitamin B1-catalyzed acetoin formation from acetaldehyde: a key step for upgrading bioethanol to bulk C₄ chemicals.

PubMed

Lu, Ting; Li, Xiukai; Gu, Liuqun; Zhang, Yugen

2014-09-01

The production of bulk chemicals and fuels from renewable biobased feedstocks is of significant importance for the sustainability of human society. The production of ethanol from biomass has dramatically increased and bioethanol also holds considerable potential as a versatile building block for the chemical industry. Herein, we report a highly selective process for the conversion of ethanol to C4 bulk chemicals, such as 2,3-butanediol and butene, via a vitamin B1 (thiamine)-derived N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-catalyzed acetoin condensation as the key step to assemble two C2 acetaldehydes into a C4 product. The environmentally benign and cheap natural catalyst vitamin B1 demonstrates high selectivity (99%), high efficiency (97% yield), and high tolerance toward ethanol and water impurities in the acetoin reaction. The results enable a novel and efficient process for ethanol upgrading. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Vectorial laws of refraction and reflection using the cross product and dot product.

PubMed

Tkaczyk, Eric R

2012-03-01

We demonstrate that published vectorial laws of reflection and refraction of light based solely on the cross product do not, in general, uniquely determine the direction of the reflected and refracted waves without additional information. This is because the cross product does not have a unique inverse operation, which is explained in this Letter in linear algebra terms. However, a vector is in fact uniquely determined if both the cross product (vector product) and dot product (scalar product) with a known vector are specified, which can be written as a single equation with a left-invertible matrix. It is thus possible to amend the vectorial laws of reflection and refraction to incorporate both the cross and dot products for a complete specification with unique solution. This enables highly efficient, unambiguous computation of reflected and refracted wave vectors from the incident wave and surface normal. © 2012 Optical Society of America

Training managers for high productivity: Guidelines and a case history

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ranftl, R. M.

1985-01-01

Hughes Aircrafts 13-year productivity study clearly identifies management as the key link in the entire productivity chain. This fact led to the establishment of a long-term series of seminars on personal, managerial, organizational, and operational productivity for all levels and sectors of line and staff management. To inspire the work force to higher levels of productivity and creativity management, itself, must first be inspired. In turn they have to clearly understand the productive and creative processes, fashion an effective productivity improvement plan with sound strategy and implementation, create an optimal environmental chemistry, and provide the outstanding leadership necessary to propel their organizations to achieve full potential. The primary goals of the seminars are to (1) ignite that spark of inspiration, enabling productive action to follow, (2) provide participants a credible roadmap and effective tools for implementation, and (3) develop a dedicated commitment to leadership and productivity throughout the management team.

The HST Frontier Fields: High-Level Science Data Products for the First 4 Completed Clusters, and Latest Data on the Remaining Clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koekemoer, Anton M.; Mack, Jennifer; Lotz, Jennifer; Anderson, Jay; Avila, Roberto J.; Barker, Elizabeth A.; Borncamp, David; Gunning, Heather C.; Hilbert, Bryan; Khandrika, Harish G.; Lucas, Ray A.; Ogaz, Sara; Porterfield, Blair; Grogin, Norman A.; Robberto, Massimo; Flanagan, Kathryn; Mountain, Matt; HST Frontier Fields Team

2016-01-01

The Hubble Space Telescope Frontier Fields program is a large Director's Discretionary program of 840 orbits, to obtain ultra-deep observations of six strong lensing clusters of galaxies, together with parallel deep blank fields, making use of the strong lensing amplification by these clusters of distant background galaxies to detect the faintest galaxies currently observable in the high-redshift universe. The first four of these clusters are now complete, namely Abell 2744, MACS J0416.1-2403, MACS J0717.5+3745 and MACS J1149.5+2223, with each of these having been observed over two epochs, to a total depth of 140 orbits on the main cluster and an associated parallel field, using ACS (F435W, F606W, F814W) and WFC3/IR (F105W, F125W, F140W, F160W). The remaining two clusters, Abell 370 and Abell S1063, are currently in progress. Full sets of high-level science products have been generated for all these clusters by the team at STScI, including a total of 24 separate cumulative-depth data releases during each epoch, as well as full-depth version 1.0 releases at the end of each completed epoch. These products include all the full-depth distortion-corrected mosaics and associated products for each cluster, which are science-ready to facilitate the construction of lensing models as well as enabling a wide range of other science projects. Many improvements beyond default calibration for ACS and WFC3/IR are implemented in these data products, including corrections for persistence, time-variable sky, and low-level dark current residuals, as well as improvements in astrometric alignment to achieve milliarcsecond-level accuracy. The resulting high-level science products are delivered via the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) to the community on a rapid timescale to enable the widest scientific use of these data, as well as ensuring a public legacy dataset of the highest possible quality that is of lasting value to the entire community.

The HST Frontier Fields: High-Level Science Data Products for the First 4 Completed Clusters, and for the Last 2 Clusters Currently in Progress

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koekemoer, Anton M.; Mack, Jennifer; Lotz, Jennifer M.; Anderson, Jay; Avila, Roberto J.; Barker, Elizabeth A.; Borncamp, David; Gunning, Heather C.; Hilbert, Bryan; Khandrika, Harish G.; Lucas, Ray A.; Ogaz, Sara; Porterfield, Blair; Sunnquist, Ben; Grogin, Norman A.; Robberto, Massimo; Sembach, Kenneth; Flanagan, Kathryn; Mountain, Matt; HST Frontier Fields Team

2016-06-01

The Hubble Space Telescope Frontier Fields program (PI: J. Lotz) is a large Director's Discretionary program of 840 orbits, to obtain ultra-deep observations of six strong lensing clusters of galaxies, together with parallel deep blank fields, making use of the strong lensing amplification by these clusters of distant background galaxies to detect the faintest galaxies currently observable in the high-redshift universe. The first four of these clusters are now complete, namely Abell 2744, MACS J0416.1-2403, MACS J0717.5+3745 and MACS J1149.5+2223, with each of these having been observed over two epochs, to a total depth of 140 orbits on the main cluster and an associated parallel field, using ACS (F435W, F606W, F814W) and WFC3/IR (F105W, F125W, F140W, F160W). The remaining two clusters, Abell 370 and Abell S1063, are currently in progress, with the first epoch for each having been completed. Full sets of high-level science products have been generated for all these clusters by the team at STScI, including cumulative-depth v0.5 data releases during each epoch, as well as full-depth version 1.0 releases after the completion of each epoch. These products include all the full-depth distortion-corrected mosaics and associated products for each cluster, which are science-ready to facilitate the construction of lensing models as well as enabling a wide range of other science projects. Many improvements beyond default calibration for ACS and WFC3/IR are implemented in these data products, including corrections for persistence, time-variable sky, and low-level dark current residuals, as well as improvements in astrometric alignment to achieve milliarcsecond-level accuracy. The full set of resulting high-level science products are publicly delivered to the community via the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) to enable the widest scientific use of these data, as well as ensuring a public legacy dataset of the highest possible quality that is of lasting value to the entire community.

The HST Frontier Fields: Complete High-Level Science Data Products for All 6 Clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koekemoer, Anton M.; Mack, Jennifer; Lotz, Jennifer M.; Borncamp, David; Khandrika, Harish G.; Lucas, Ray A.; Martlin, Catherine; Porterfield, Blair; Sunnquist, Ben; Anderson, Jay; Avila, Roberto J.; Barker, Elizabeth A.; Grogin, Norman A.; Gunning, Heather C.; Hilbert, Bryan; Ogaz, Sara; Robberto, Massimo; Sembach, Kenneth; Flanagan, Kathryn; Mountain, Matt; HST Frontier Fields Team

2017-01-01

The Hubble Space Telescope Frontier Fields program (PI: J. Lotz) is a large Director's Discretionary program of 840 orbits, to obtain ultra-deep observations of six strong lensing clusters of galaxies, together with parallel deep blank fields, making use of the strong lensing amplification by these clusters of distant background galaxies to detect the faintest galaxies currently observable in the high-redshift universe. The entire program has now completed successfully for all 6 clusters, namely Abell 2744, Abell S1063, Abell 370, MACS J0416.1-2403, MACS J0717.5+3745 and MACS J1149.5+2223,. Each of these was observed over two epochs, to a total depth of 140 orbits on the main cluster and an associated parallel field, obtaining images in ACS (F435W, F606W, F814W) and WFC3/IR (F105W, F125W, F140W, F160W) on both the main cluster and the parallel field in all cases. Full sets of high-level science products have been generated for all these clusters by the team at STScI, including cumulative-depth data releases during each epoch, as well as full-depth releases after the completion of each epoch. These products include all the full-depth distortion-corrected drizzled mosaics and associated products for each cluster, which are science-ready to facilitate the construction of lensing models as well as enabling a wide range of other science projects. Many improvements beyond default calibration for ACS and WFC3/IR are implemented in these data products, including corrections for persistence, time-variable sky, and low-level dark current residuals, as well as improvements in astrometric alignment to achieve milliarcsecond-level accuracy. The full set of resulting high-level science products and mosaics are publicly delivered to the community via the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) to enable the widest scientific use of these data, as well as ensuring a public legacy dataset of the highest possible quality that is of lasting value to the entire community.

The HST Frontier Fields: Complete Observations and High-Level Science Data Products for All 6 Clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koekemoer, Anton M.; Mack, Jennifer; Lotz, Jennifer M.; Borncamp, David; Khandrika, Harish G.; Lucas, Ray A.; Martlin, Catherine; Martlin, Catherine; Porterfield, Blair; Sunnquist, Ben; Anderson, Jay; Avila, Roberto J.; Barker, Elizabeth A.; Grogin, Norman A.; Gunning, Heather C.; Hilbert, Bryan; Ogaz, Sara; Robberto, Massimo; Sembach, Kenneth; Flanagan, Kathryn; Mountain, Matt; HST Frontier Fields Team

2017-06-01

The Hubble Space Telescope Frontier Fields program is a large Director's Discretionary program of 840 orbits, to obtain ultra-deep observations of six strong lensing clusters of galaxies, together with parallel deep blank fields, making use of the strong lensing amplification by these clusters of distant background galaxies to detect the faintest galaxies currently observable in the high-redshift universe. The entire program has now completed successfully for all 6 clusters, namely Abell 2744, Abell S1063, Abell 370, MACS J0416.1-2403, MACS J0717.5+3745 and MACS J1149.5+2223,. Each of these was observed over two epochs, to a total depth of 140 orbits on the main cluster and an associated parallel field, obtaining images in ACS (F435W, F606W, F814W) and WFC3/IR (F105W, F125W, F140W, F160W) on both the main cluster and the parallel field in all cases. Full sets of high-level science products have been generated for all these clusters by the team at STScI, including cumulative-depth data releases during each epoch, as well as full-depth releases after the completion of each epoch. These products include all the full-depth distortion-corrected drizzled mosaics and associated products for each cluster, which are science-ready to facilitate the construction of lensing models as well as enabling a wide range of other science projects. Many improvements beyond default calibration for ACS and WFC3/IR are implemented in these data products, including corrections for persistence, time-variable sky, and low-level dark current residuals, as well as improvements in astrometric alignment to achieve milliarcsecond-level accuracy. The full set of resulting high-level science products and mosaics are publicly delivered to the community via the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) to enable the widest scientific use of these data, as well as ensuring a public legacy dataset of the highest possible quality that is of lasting value to the entire community.

Bio-Fuel Production Assisted with High Temperature Steam Electrolysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grant Hawkes; James O'Brien; Michael McKellar

2012-06-01

Two hybrid energy processes that enable production of synthetic liquid fuels that are compatible with the existing conventional liquid transportation fuels infrastructure are presented. Using biomass as a renewable carbon source, and supplemental hydrogen from high-temperature steam electrolysis (HTSE), these two hybrid energy processes have the potential to provide a significant alternative petroleum source that could reduce dependence on imported oil. The first process discusses a hydropyrolysis unit with hydrogen addition from HTSE. Non-food biomass is pyrolyzed and converted to pyrolysis oil. The pyrolysis oil is upgraded with hydrogen addition from HTSE. This addition of hydrogen deoxygenates the pyrolysis oilmore » and increases the pH to a tolerable level for transportation. The final product is synthetic crude that could then be transported to a refinery and input into the already used transportation fuel infrastructure. The second process discusses a process named Bio-Syntrolysis. The Bio-Syntrolysis process combines hydrogen from HTSE with CO from an oxygen-blown biomass gasifier that yields syngas to be used as a feedstock for synthesis of liquid synthetic crude. Conversion of syngas to liquid synthetic crude, using a biomass-based carbon source, expands the application of renewable energy beyond the grid to include transportation fuels. It can also contribute to grid stability associated with non-dispatchable power generation. The use of supplemental hydrogen from HTSE enables greater than 90% utilization of the biomass carbon content which is about 2.5 times higher than carbon utilization associated with traditional cellulosic ethanol production. If the electrical power source needed for HTSE is based on nuclear or renewable energy, the process is carbon neutral. INL has demonstrated improved biomass processing prior to gasification. Recyclable biomass in the form of crop residue or energy crops would serve as the feedstock for this process. A process model of syngas production using high temperature electrolysis and biomass gasification is presented. Process heat from the biomass gasifier is used to heat steam for the hydrogen production via the high temperature steam electrolysis process. Oxygen produced form the electrolysis process is used to control the oxidation rate in the oxygen-blown biomass gasifier.« less

LIQUID BIO-FUEL PRODUCTION FROM NON-FOOD BIOMASS VIA HIGH TEMPERATURE STEAM ELECTROLYSIS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

G. L. Hawkes; J. E. O'Brien; M. G. McKellar

2011-11-01

Bio-Syntrolysis is a hybrid energy process that enables production of synthetic liquid fuels that are compatible with the existing conventional liquid transportation fuels infrastructure. Using biomass as a renewable carbon source, and supplemental hydrogen from high-temperature steam electrolysis (HTSE), bio-syntrolysis has the potential to provide a significant alternative petroleum source that could reduce US dependence on imported oil. Combining hydrogen from HTSE with CO from an oxygen-blown biomass gasifier yields syngas to be used as a feedstock for synthesis of liquid transportation fuels via a Fischer-Tropsch process. Conversion of syngas to liquid hydrocarbon fuels, using a biomass-based carbon source, expandsmore » the application of renewable energy beyond the grid to include transportation fuels. It can also contribute to grid stability associated with non-dispatchable power generation. The use of supplemental hydrogen from HTSE enables greater than 90% utilization of the biomass carbon content which is about 2.5 times higher than carbon utilization associated with traditional cellulosic ethanol production. If the electrical power source needed for HTSE is based on nuclear or renewable energy, the process is carbon neutral. INL has demonstrated improved biomass processing prior to gasification. Recyclable biomass in the form of crop residue or energy crops would serve as the feedstock for this process. A process model of syngas production using high temperature electrolysis and biomass gasification is presented. Process heat from the biomass gasifier is used to heat steam for the hydrogen production via the high temperature steam electrolysis process. Oxygen produced form the electrolysis process is used to control the oxidation rate in the oxygen-blown biomass gasifier. Based on the gasifier temperature, 94% to 95% of the carbon in the biomass becomes carbon monoxide in the syngas (carbon monoxide and hydrogen). Assuming the thermal efficiency of the power cycle for electricity generation is 50%, (as expected from GEN IV nuclear reactors), the syngas production efficiency ranges from 70% to 73% as the gasifier temperature decreases from 1900 K to 1500 K. Parametric studies of system pressure, biomass moisture content and low temperature alkaline electrolysis are also presented.« less

Production of erythrocytes from directly isolated or Delta1 Notch ligand expanded CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells: process characterization, monitoring and implications for manufacture.

PubMed

Glen, Katie E; Workman, Victoria L; Ahmed, Forhad; Ratcliffe, Elizabeth; Stacey, Adrian J; Thomas, Robert J

2013-09-01

Economic ex vivo manufacture of erythrocytes at 10(12) cell doses requires an efficiently controlled bio-process capable of extensive proliferation and high terminal density. High-resolution characterization of the process would identify production strategies for increased efficiency, monitoring and control. CD34(+) cord blood cells or equivalent cells that had been pre-expanded for 7 days with Delta1 Notch ligand were placed in erythroid expansion and differentiation conditions in a micro-scale ambr suspension bioreactor. Multiple culture parameters were varied, and phenotype markers and metabolites measured to identify conserved trends and robust monitoring markers. The cells exhibited a bi-modal erythroid differentiation pattern with an erythroid marker peak after 2 weeks and 3 weeks of culture; differentiation was comparatively weighted toward the second peak in Delta1 pre-expanded cells. Both differentiation events were strengthened by omission of stem cell factor and dexamethasone. The cumulative cell proliferation and death, or directly measured CD45 expression, enabled monitoring of proliferative rate of the cells. The metabolic activities of the cultures (glucose, glutamine and ammonia consumption or production) were highly variable but exhibited systematic change synchronized with the change in differentiation state. Erythroid differentiation chronology is partly determined by the heterogeneous CD34(+) progenitor compartment with implications for input control; Delta1 ligand-mediated progenitor culture can alter differentiation profile with control benefits for engineering production strategy. Differentiation correlated changes in cytokine response, markers and metabolic state will enable scientifically designed monitoring and timing of manufacturing process steps. Copyright © 2013 International Society for Cellular Therapy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Development of the University of Washington Biofuels and Biobased Chemicals Process Laboratory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gustafson, Richard

2014-02-04

The funding from this research grant enabled us to design and build a bioconversion steam explosion reactor and ancillary equipment such as a high pressure boiler and a fermenter to support the bioconversion process research. This equipment has been in constant use since its installation in 2012. Following are research projects that it has supported: • Investigation of novel chip production method in biofuels production • Investigation of biomass refining following steam explosion • Several studies on use of different biomass feedstocks • Investigation of biomass moisture content on pretreatment efficacy. • Development of novel instruments for biorefinery process controlmore » Having this equipment was also instrumental in the University of Washington receiving a $40 million grant from the US Department of Agriculture for biofuels development as well as several other smaller grants. The research that is being done with the equipment from this grant will facilitate the establishment of a biofuels industry in the Pacific Northwest and enable the University of Washington to launch a substantial biofuels and bio-based product research program.« less

Alternative Sigma Factor Over-Expression Enables Heterologous Expression of a Type II Polyketide Biosynthetic Pathway in Escherichia coli

PubMed Central

Stevens, David Cole; Conway, Kyle R.; Pearce, Nelson; Villegas-Peñaranda, Luis Roberto; Garza, Anthony G.; Boddy, Christopher N.

2013-01-01

Background Heterologous expression of bacterial biosynthetic gene clusters is currently an indispensable tool for characterizing biosynthetic pathways. Development of an effective, general heterologous expression system that can be applied to bioprospecting from metagenomic DNA will enable the discovery of a wealth of new natural products. Methodology We have developed a new Escherichia coli-based heterologous expression system for polyketide biosynthetic gene clusters. We have demonstrated the over-expression of the alternative sigma factor σ54 directly and positively regulates heterologous expression of the oxytetracycline biosynthetic gene cluster in E. coli. Bioinformatics analysis indicates that σ54 promoters are present in nearly 70% of polyketide and non-ribosomal peptide biosynthetic pathways. Conclusions We have demonstrated a new mechanism for heterologous expression of the oxytetracycline polyketide biosynthetic pathway, where high-level pleiotropic sigma factors from the heterologous host directly and positively regulate transcription of the non-native biosynthetic gene cluster. Our bioinformatics analysis is consistent with the hypothesis that heterologous expression mediated by the alternative sigma factor σ54 may be a viable method for the production of additional polyketide products. PMID:23724102

Flow chemistry and polymer-supported pseudoenantiomeric acylating agents enable parallel kinetic resolution of chiral saturated N-heterocycles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kreituss, Imants; Bode, Jeffrey W.

2017-05-01

Kinetic resolution is a common method to obtain enantioenriched material from a racemic mixture. This process will deliver enantiopure unreacted material when the selectivity factor of the process, s, is greater than 1; however, the scalemic reaction product is often discarded. Parallel kinetic resolution, on the other hand, provides access to two enantioenriched products from a single racemic starting material, but suffers from a variety of practical challenges regarding experimental design that limit its applications. Here, we describe the development of a flow-based system that enables practical parallel kinetic resolution of saturated N-heterocycles. This process provides access to both enantiomers of the starting material in good yield and high enantiopurity; similar results with classical kinetic resolution would require selectivity factors in the range of s = 100. To achieve this, two immobilized quasienantiomeric acylating agents were designed for the asymmetric acylation of racemic saturated N-heterocycles. Using the flow-based system we could efficiently separate, recover and reuse the polymer-supported reagents. The amide products could be readily separated and hydrolysed to the corresponding amines without detectable epimerization.

Membrane engineering via trans unsaturated fatty acids production improves Escherichia coli robustness and production of biorenewables.

PubMed

Tan, Zaigao; Yoon, Jong Moon; Nielsen, David R; Shanks, Jacqueline V; Jarboe, Laura R

2016-05-01

Constructing microbial biocatalysts that produce biorenewables at economically viable yields and titers is often hampered by product toxicity. For production of short chain fatty acids, membrane damage is considered the primary mechanism of toxicity, particularly in regards to membrane integrity. Previous engineering efforts in Escherichia coli to increase membrane integrity, with the goal of increasing fatty acid tolerance and production, have had mixed results. Herein, a novel approach was used to reconstruct the E. coli membrane by enabling production of a novel membrane component. Specifically, trans unsaturated fatty acids (TUFA) were produced and incorporated into the membrane of E. coli MG1655 by expression of cis-trans isomerase (Cti) from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. While the engineered strain was found to have no increase in membrane integrity, a significant decrease in membrane fluidity was observed, meaning that membrane polarization and rigidity were increased by TUFA incorporation. As a result, tolerance to exogenously added octanoic acid and production of octanoic acid were both increased relative to the wild-type strain. This membrane engineering strategy to improve octanoic acid tolerance was found to require fine-tuning of TUFA abundance. Besides improving tolerance and production of carboxylic acids, TUFA production also enabled increased tolerance in E. coli to other bio-products, e.g. alcohols, organic acids, aromatic compounds, a variety of adverse industrial conditions, e.g. low pH, high temperature, and also elevated styrene production, another versatile bio-chemical product. TUFA permitted enhanced growth due to alleviation of bio-product toxicity, demonstrating the general effectiveness of this membrane engineering strategy towards improving strain robustness. Copyright © 2016 International Metabolic Engineering Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Immersion lithography defectivity analysis at DUV inspection wavelength

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Golan, E.; Meshulach, D.; Raccah, N.; Yeo, J. Ho.; Dassa, O.; Brandl, S.; Schwarz, C.; Pierson, B.; Montgomery, W.

2007-03-01

Significant effort has been directed in recent years towards the realization of immersion lithography at 193nm wavelength. Immersion lithography is likely a key enabling technology for the production of critical layers for 45nm and 32nm design rule (DR) devices. In spite of the significant progress in immersion lithography technology, there remain several key technology issues, with a critical issue of immersion lithography process induced defects. The benefits of the optical resolution and depth of focus, made possible by immersion lithography, are well understood. Yet, these benefits cannot come at the expense of increased defect counts and decreased production yield. Understanding the impact of the immersion lithography process parameters on wafer defects formation and defect counts, together with the ability to monitor, control and minimize the defect counts down to acceptable levels is imperative for successful introduction of immersion lithography for production of advanced DR's. In this report, we present experimental results of immersion lithography defectivity analysis focused on topcoat layer thickness parameters and resist bake temperatures. Wafers were exposed on the 1150i-α-immersion scanner and 1200B Scanner (ASML), defect inspection was performed using a DUV inspection tool (UVision TM, Applied Materials). Higher sensitivity was demonstrated at DUV through detection of small defects not detected at the visible wavelength, indicating on the potential high sensitivity benefits of DUV inspection for this layer. The analysis indicates that certain types of defects are associated with different immersion process parameters. This type of analysis at DUV wavelengths would enable the optimization of immersion lithography processes, thus enabling the qualification of immersion processes for volume production.

Effects of alternative label formats on choice of high- and low-sodium products in a New Zealand population sample.

PubMed

McLean, Rachael; Hoek, Janet; Hedderley, Duncan

2012-05-01

Dietary sodium reduction is a cost-effective public health intervention to reduce chronic disease. In response to calls for further research into front-of-pack labelling systems, we examined how alternative sodium nutrition label formats and nutrition claims influenced consumers' choice behaviour and whether consumers with or without a diagnosis of hypertension differed in their choice patterns. An anonymous online experiment in which participants viewed ten choice sets featuring three fictitious brands of baked beans with varied label formats and nutritional profiles (high and low sodium) and indicated which brand in each set they would purchase if shopping for this product. Participants were recruited from New Zealand's largest online nationwide research panel. Five hundred people with self-reported hypertension and 191 people without hypertension aged 18 to 79 years. The addition of a front-of-pack label increased both groups' ability to discriminate between products with high and low sodium, while the Traffic Light label enabled better identification of the high-sodium product. Both front-of-pack formats enhanced discrimination in the presence of a reduced salt claim, but the Traffic Light label also performed better than the Percentage Daily Intake label in moderating the effect of the claim for the high-sodium product. Front-of-pack labels, particularly those with simple visual cues, enhance consumers' ability to discriminate between high- and low-sodium products, even when those products feature nutrition claims.

High-spatial-resolution mapping of catalytic reactions on single particles

DOE PAGES

Wu, Chung-Yeh; Wolf, William J.; Levartovsky, Yehonatan; ...

2017-01-26

We report the critical role in surface reactions and heterogeneous catalysis of metal atoms with low coordination numbers, such as found at atomic steps and surface defects, is firmly established. But despite the growing availability of tools that enable detailed in situ characterization, so far it has not been possible to document this role directly. Surface properties can be mapped with high spatial resolution, and catalytic conversion can be tracked with a clear chemical signature; however, the combination of the two, which would enable high-spatial-resolution detection of reactions on catalytic surfaces, has rarely been achieved. Single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy has beenmore » used to image and characterize single turnover sites at catalytic surfaces, but is restricted to reactions that generate highly fluorescing product molecules. Herein the chemical conversion of N-heterocyclic carbene molecules attached to catalytic particles is mapped using synchrotron-radiation-based infrared nanospectroscopy with a spatial resolution of 25 nanometres, which enabled particle regions that differ in reactivity to be distinguished. Lastly, these observations demonstrate that, compared to the flat regions on top of the particles, the peripheries of the particles-which contain metal atoms with low coordination numbers-are more active in catalysing oxidation and reduction of chemically active groups in surface-anchored N-heterocyclic carbene molecules.« less

Auto-flotation of heterocyst enables the efficient production of renewable energy in cyanobacteria

PubMed Central

Chen, Ming; Li, Jihong; Zhang, Lei; Chang, Sandra; Liu, Chen; Wang, Jianlong; Li, Shizhong

2014-01-01

Utilizing cyanobacteria as a bioenergy resource is difficult due to the cost and energy consuming harvests of microalgal biomass. In this study, an auto-floating system was developed by increasing the photobiological H2 production in the heterocysts of filamentous cyanobacteria. An amount of 1.0 μM of diuron, which inhibited O2 production in cyanobacteria, resulted in a high rate of H2 production in heterocysts. The auto-floating process recovered 91.71% ± 1.22 of the accumulated microalgal biomass from the liquid media. Quantification analysis revealed that 0.72–1.10 μmol H2 per mg dry weight microalgal biomass was necessary to create this auto-floating system. Further bio-conversion by using anaerobic digestion converted the harvested microalgal biomass into biogas. Through this novel coupled system of photobiological H2 production and anaerobic digestion, a high level of light energy conversion efficiency from solar energy to bioenergy was attained with the values of 3.79% ± 0.76. PMID:24499777

Auto-flotation of heterocyst enables the efficient production of renewable energy in cyanobacteria.

PubMed

Chen, Ming; Li, Jihong; Zhang, Lei; Chang, Sandra; Liu, Chen; Wang, Jianlong; Li, Shizhong

2014-02-06

Utilizing cyanobacteria as a bioenergy resource is difficult due to the cost and energy consuming harvests of microalgal biomass. In this study, an auto-floating system was developed by increasing the photobiological H2 production in the heterocysts of filamentous cyanobacteria. An amount of 1.0 μM of diuron, which inhibited O2 production in cyanobacteria, resulted in a high rate of H2 production in heterocysts. The auto-floating process recovered 91.71% ± 1.22 of the accumulated microalgal biomass from the liquid media. Quantification analysis revealed that 0.72-1.10 μmol H2 per mg dry weight microalgal biomass was necessary to create this auto-floating system. Further bio-conversion by using anaerobic digestion converted the harvested microalgal biomass into biogas. Through this novel coupled system of photobiological H2 production and anaerobic digestion, a high level of light energy conversion efficiency from solar energy to bioenergy was attained with the values of 3.79% ± 0.76.

Power-to-Syngas: An Enabling Technology for the Transition of the Energy System?

PubMed

Foit, Severin R; Vinke, Izaak C; de Haart, Lambertus G J; Eichel, Rüdiger-A

2017-05-08

Power-to-X concepts promise a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions simultaneously guaranteeing a safe energy supply even at high share of renewable power generation, thus becoming a cornerstone of a sustainable energy system. Power-to-syngas, that is, the electrochemical conversion of steam and carbon dioxide with the use of renewably generated electricity to syngas for the production of synfuels and high-value chemicals, offers an efficient technology to couple different energy-intense sectors, such as "traffic and transportation" and "chemical industry". Syngas produced by co-electrolysis can thus be regarded as a key-enabling step for a transition of the energy system, which offers additionally features of CO 2 -valorization and closed carbon cycles. Here, we discuss advantages and current limitations of low- and high-temperature co-electrolysis. Advances in both fundamental understanding of the basic reaction schemes and stable high-performance materials are essential to further promote co-electrolysis. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Overcoming the Adoption Barrier to Electric Flight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Borer, Nicholas K.; Nickol, Craig L.; Jones, Frank P.; Yasky, Richard J.; Woodham, Kurt; Fell, Jared S.; Litherland, Brandon L.; Loyselle, Patricia L.; Provenza, Andrew J.; Kohlman, Lee W.;

Scanner focus metrology and control system for advanced 10nm logic node

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oh, Junghun; Maeng, Kwang-Seok; Shin, Jae-Hyung; Choi, Won-Woong; Won, Sung-Keun; Grouwstra, Cedric; El Kodadi, Mohamed; Heil, Stephan; van der Meijden, Vidar; Hong, Jong Kyun; Kim, Sang-Jin; Kwon, Oh-Sung

2018-03-01

Immersion lithography is being extended beyond the 10-nm node and the lithography performance requirement needs to be tightened further to ensure good yield. Amongst others, good on-product focus control with accurate and dense metrology measurements is essential to enable this. In this paper, we will present new solutions that enable onproduct focus monitoring and control (mean and uniformity) suitable for high volume manufacturing environment. We will introduce the concept of pure focus and its role in focus control through the imaging optimizer scanner correction interface. The results will show that the focus uniformity can be improved by up to 25%.

Average power scaling of UV excimer lasers drives flat panel display and lidar applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herbst, Ludolf; Delmdahl, Ralph F.; Paetzel, Rainer

2012-03-01

Average power scaling of 308nm excimer lasers has followed an evolutionary path over the last two decades driven by diverse industrial UV laser microprocessing markets. Recently, a new dual-oscillator and beam management concept for high-average power upscaling of excimer lasers has been realized, for the first time enabling as much as 1.2kW of stabilized UV-laser average output power at a UV wavelength of 308nm. The new dual-oscillator concept enables low temperature polysilicon (LTPS) fabrication to be extended to generation six glass substrates. This is essential in terms of a more economic high-volume manufacturing of flat panel displays for the soaring smartphone and tablet PC markets. Similarly, the cost-effective production of flexible displays is driven by 308nm excimer laser power scaling. Flexible displays have enormous commercial potential and can largely use the same production equipment as is used for rigid display manufacturing. Moreover, higher average output power of 308nm excimer lasers aids reducing measurement time and improving the signal-to-noise ratio in the worldwide network of high altitude Raman lidar stations. The availability of kW-class 308nm excimer lasers has the potential to take LIDAR backscattering signal strength and achievable altitude to new levels.

High-Performance Na-O2 Batteries Enabled by Oriented NaO2 Nanowires as Discharge Products.

PubMed

Khajehbashi, S Mohammad B; Xu, Lin; Zhang, Guobin; Tan, Shuangshuang; Zhao, Yan; Wang, Lai-Sen; Li, Jiantao; Luo, Wen; Peng, Dong-Liang; Mai, Liqiang

2018-06-13

Na-O 2 batteries are emerging rechargeable batteries due to their high theoretical energy density and abundant resources, but they suffer from sluggish kinetics due to the formation of large-size discharge products with cubic or irregular particle shapes. Here, we report the unique growth of discharge products of NaO 2 nanowires inside Na-O 2 batteries that significantly boosts the performance of Na-O 2 batteries. For this purpose, a high-spin Co 3 O 4 electrocatalyst was synthesized via the high-temperature oxidation of pure cobalt nanoparticles in an external magnetic field. The discharge products of NaO 2 nanowires are 10-20 nm in diameter and ∼10 μm in length, characteristics that provide facile pathways for electron and ion transfer. With these nanowires, Na-O 2 batteries have surpassed 400 cycles with a fixed capacity of 1000 mA h g -1 , an ultra-low over-potential of ∼60 mV during charging, and near-zero over-potential during discharging. This strategy not only provides a unique way to control the morphology of discharge products to achieve high-performance Na-O 2 batteries but also opens up the opportunity to explore growing nanowires in novel conditions.

Microsystems Enabled Photovoltaics

ScienceCinema

Gupta, Vipin; Nielson, Greg; Okandan, Murat, Granata, Jennifer; Nelson, Jeff; Haney, Mike; Cruz-Campa, Jose Luiz

2018-06-07

Sandia's microsystems enabled photovoltaic advances combine mature technology and tools currently used in microsystem production with groundbreaking advances in photovoltaics cell design, decreasing production and system costs while improving energy conversion efficiency. The technology has potential applications in buildings, houses, clothing, portable electronics, vehicles, and other contoured structures.

Plant Factory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ikeda, Hideo

Recently, much attention is paid on the plant factory, as it enable to grow plants stably under extraordinary climate condition such as high and/or low air temperature and less rain. Lots of questions such as decreasing investing cost, realizing stable plant production and developing new growing technique should be solved for making popular this growing system. However, I think that we can introduce a highly developed Japanese industrial now-how to plant factory system and can produce a business chance to the world market.

The Bonding Behavior of co-extruded Aluminum-Titanium-Compounds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Striewe, Barbara; Hunkel, Martin; von Hehl, Axel; Grittner, Norbert

The combination of aluminum and titanium enables the design of lightweight structures with tailor-made properties at global as well as local scale. In this context the co-extrusion process offers a great potential for advanced solutions for long products especially being applied in the aircraft and automobile sector. While titanium alloys show particular high mechanical strength and good corrosion resistance, aluminum alloys provide a considerable high specific bending stiffness along with lower materials costs.

A highly tunable system for the simultaneous expression of multiple enzymes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

PubMed

Ito, Yoichiro; Yamanishi, Mamoru; Ikeuchi, Akinori; Matsuyama, Takashi

2015-01-16

Control of the expression levels of multiple enzymes in transgenic yeasts is essential for the effective production of complex molecules through fermentation. Here, we propose a tunable strategy for the control of expression levels based on the design of terminator regions and other gene-expression control elements in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Our genome-integrated system, which is capable of producing high expression levels over a wide dynamic range, will broadly enable metabolic engineering and synthetic biology. We demonstrated that the activities of multiple cellulases and the production of ethanol were doubled in a transgenic yeast constructed with our system compared with those achieved with a standard expression system.

Scaling up high throughput field phenotyping of corn and soy research plots using ground rovers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peshlov, Boyan; Nakarmi, Akash; Baldwin, Steven; Essner, Scott; French, Jasenka

2017-05-01

Crop improvement programs require large and meticulous selection processes that effectively and accurately collect and analyze data to generate quality plant products as efficiently as possible, develop superior cropping and/or crop improvement methods. Typically, data collection for such testing is performed by field teams using hand-held instruments or manually-controlled devices. Although steps are taken to reduce error, the data collected in such manner can be unreliable due to human error and fatigue, which reduces the ability to make accurate selection decisions. Monsanto engineering teams have developed a high-clearance mobile platform (Rover) as a step towards high throughput and high accuracy phenotyping at an industrial scale. The rovers are equipped with GPS navigation, multiple cameras and sensors and on-board computers to acquire data and compute plant vigor metrics per plot. The supporting IT systems enable automatic path planning, plot identification, image and point cloud data QA/QC and near real-time analysis where results are streamed to enterprise databases for additional statistical analysis and product advancement decisions. Since the rover program was launched in North America in 2013, the number of research plots we can analyze in a growing season has expanded dramatically. This work describes some of the successes and challenges in scaling up of the rover platform for automated phenotyping to enable science at scale.

High Contrast Imaging of Exoplanets and Exoplanetary Systems with JWST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hinkley, Sasha; Skemer, Andrew; Biller, Beth; Baraffe, I.; Bonnefoy, M.; Bowler, B.; Carter, A.; Chen, C.; Choquet, E.; Currie, T.; Danielski, C.; Fortney, J.; Grady, C.; Greenbaum, A.; Hines, D.; Janson, M.; Kalas, P.; Kennedy, G.; Kraus, A.; Lagrange, A.; Liu, M.; Marley, M.; Marois, C.; Matthews, B.; Mawet, D.; Metchev, S.; Meyer, M.; Millar-Blanchaer, M.; Perrin, M.; Pueyo, L.; Quanz, S.; Rameau, J.; Rodigas, T.; Sallum, S.; Sargent, B.; Schlieder, J.; Schneider, G.; Stapelfeldt, K.; Tremblin, P.; Vigan, A.; Ygouf, M.

2017-11-01

JWST will transform our ability to characterize directly imaged planets and circumstellar debris disks, including the first spectroscopic characterization of directly imaged exoplanets at wavelengths beyond 5 microns, providing a powerful diagnostic of cloud particle properties, atmospheric structure, and composition. To lay the groundwork for these science goals, we propose a 39-hour ERS program to rapidly establish optimal strategies for JWST high contrast imaging. We will acquire: a) coronagraphic imaging of a newly discovered exoplanet companion, and a well-studied circumstellar debris disk with NIRCam & MIRI; b) spectroscopy of a wide separation planetary mass companion with NIRSPEC & MIRI; and c) deep aperture masking interferometry with NIRISS. Our primary goals are to: 1) generate representative datasets in modes to be commonly used by the exoplanet and disk imaging communities; 2) deliver science enabling products to empower a broad user base to develop successful future investigations; and 3) carry out breakthrough science by characterizing exoplanets for the first time over their full spectral range from 2-28 microns, and debris disk spectrophotometry out to 15 microns sampling the 3 micron water ice feature. Our team represents the majority of the community dedicated to exoplanet and disk imaging and has decades of experience with high contrast imaging algorithms and pipelines. We have developed a collaboration management plan and several organized working groups to ensure we can rapidly and effectively deliver high quality Science Enabling Products to the community.

Effective Processing of the Iron Ores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuskov, Vadim; Kuskova, Yana; Udovitsky, Vladimir

2017-11-01

Effective technology for a complex wasteless processing of the iron ores has been designed and includes three main components (plats): comminution plant, briquette plant, pigment plant. The comminution is done per energy effective technology. Using of briquetting for ores clotting enables the costs cut and brings to a higher level of environmental safety of the process. Briquette formation can be done as a regular pressing, as an extrusion. Developed technology allows to produce high quality competitively products for metallurgy industry and red iron oxide pigments. The whole production line impacts the environment in a minimal manner.

Toward responsible development and effective risk management of nano-enabled products in the U.S. construction industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

West, Gavin H.; Lippy, Bruce E.; Cooper, Michael R.; Marsick, Daniel; Burrelli, Leonard G.; Griffin, Kelsey N.; Segrave, Alan M.

2016-02-01

The global construction sector is experiencing major improvements to building materials used in large quantities through commercial applications of nanotechnology. Nano-enabled construction products hold great promise for energy efficiency and resource conservation, but risk assessments lag as new products emerge. This paper presents results from an inventory, survey, and exposure assessment conducted by the authors and explores these findings in the broader context of evolving research trends and responsible development of nanotechnology. An inventory of 458 reportedly nano-enabled construction products provided insight into product availability, potential exposures, and deficiencies in risk communication that are barriers to adoption of proactive safety measures. Seasoned construction trainers surveyed were largely unaware of the availability of nano-enabled construction products. Exposure assessment demonstrated the effectiveness of ventilation to reduce exposures during mechanical abrasion of photocatalytic tiles containing titanium dioxide (TiO2). Dissociated particles of TiO2 just above the nanoscale (138 nm) were detected in the debris collected during cutting of the tiles, but measurements were below recommended exposure limits for TiO2. Exposure assessments remain scarce, and toxicological understanding primarily pertains to unincorporated nanomaterials; less is known about the occupational risks of nano-enabled construction products across their life cycle. Further research is needed to characterize and quantify exposure to debris released from nanocomposite materials for realistic risk assessment, and to ascertain how nanocomposite matrices, fillers, and degradation forces interact to affect release dynamics. Improving risk communication strategies and implementing safe work practices will cultivate responsible development of nanotechnology in construction, as will multidisciplinary research efforts.

Industrial production and professional application of manufactured nanomaterials-enabled end products in Dutch industries: potential for exposure.

PubMed

Bekker, Cindy; Brouwer, Derk H; Tielemans, Erik; Pronk, Anjoeka

2013-04-01

In order to make full use of the opportunities while responsibly managing the risks of working with manufactured nanomaterials (MNM), we need to gain insight into the potential level of exposure to MNM in the industry. Therefore, the goal of this study was to obtain an overview of the potential MNM exposure scenarios within relevant industrial sectors, applied exposure controls, and number of workers potentially exposed to MNM in Dutch industrial sectors producing and applying MNM-enabled end products in the Netherlands. A survey was conducted in three phases: (i) identification of MNM-enabled end products; (ii) identification of relevant industrial sectors; and (iii) a tiered telephone survey to estimate actual use of the products among 40 sector organizations/knowledge centres (Tier 1), 350 randomly selected companies (Tier 2), and 110 actively searched companies (Tier 3). The most dominant industrial sectors producing or applying MNM-enabled end products (market penetration >5%) are shoe repair shops, automotive, construction, paint, metal, and textile cleaning industry. In the majority of the companies (76%), potential risks related to working with MNM are not a specific point of interest. The total number of workers potentially exposed to MNM during the production or application of MNM-enabled end products was estimated at approximately 3000 workers in the Netherlands. The results of this study will serve as a basis for in-depth exposure and health surveys that are currently planned in the Netherlands. In addition, the results can be used to identify the most relevant sectors for policy makers and future studies focussing on evaluating the risks of occupational exposure to MNM.

Plasma Doping—Enabling Technology for High Dose Logic and Memory Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, T.; Godet, L.; Papasouliotis, G. D.; Singh, V.

2008-11-01

As logic and memory device dimensions shrink with each generation, there are more high dose implants at lower energies. Examples include dual poly gate (also referred to as counter-doped poly), elevated source drain and contact plug implants. Plasma Doping technology throughput and dopant profile benefits at these ultra high dose and lower energy conditions have been well established [1,2,3]. For the first time a production-worthy plasma doping implanter, the VIISta PLAD tool, has been developed with unique architecture suited for precise and repeatable dopant placement. Critical elements of the architecture include pulsed DC wafer bias, closed-loop dosimetry and a uniform low energy, high density plasma source. In this paper key performance metrics such as dose uniformity, dose repeatability and dopant profile control will be presented that demonstrate the production-worthiness of the VIISta PLAD tool for several high dose applications.

Microflow High-p,T Intensification of Vitamin D3 Synthesis Using an Ultraviolet Lamp

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Herewith a new process concept for synthesis is presented which combines both UV-photoirradiation and high-p,T intensification (photo-high-p,T) in continuous flow. The application of this procedure to Vitamin D3 synthesis promotes thermal shifting of the equilibrium from the reaction intermediate to the product. This is enabled by microreactors which allow operation under harsh conditions such as the high temperature used here. This provides, to our best knowledge, a new kind of process combination (novel process window). As a result, in less than 1 min, 42% conversion of 7-dehydrocholesterol can be achieved giving a 17% yield and 40% selectivity of Vitamin D3. This approach enhances productivity by up to 2 orders of magnitude compared with the current capillary based vitamin D3 synthesis, because, under the microflow conditions, photochemistry can be performed at fairly high concentration and up to 20 times faster. PMID:29503521

Compact OAM microscope for edge enhancement of biomedical and object samples

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gozali, Richard; Nguyen, Thien-An; Bendau, Ethan; Alfano, Robert R.

2017-09-01

The production of orbital angular momentum (OAM) by using a q-plate, which functions as an electrically tunable spatial frequency filter, provides a simple and efficient method of edge contrast in biological and medical sample imaging for histological evaluation of tissue, smears, and PAP smears. An instrument producing OAM, such as a q-plate, situated at the Fourier plane of a 4f lens system, similar to the use of a high-pass spatial filter, allows the passage of high spatial frequencies and enables the production of an image with highly illuminated edges contrasted against a dark background for both opaque and transparent objects. Compared with ordinary spiral phase plates and spatial light modulators, the q-plate has the added advantage of electric control and tunability.

High-efficiency power production from natural gas with carbon capture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adams, Thomas A.; Barton, Paul I.

A unique electricity generation process uses natural gas and solid oxide fuel cells at high electrical efficiency (74%HHV) and zero atmospheric emissions. The process contains a steam reformer heat-integrated with the fuel cells to provide the heat necessary for reforming. The fuel cells are powered with H 2 and avoid carbon deposition issues. 100% CO 2 capture is achieved downstream of the fuel cells with very little energy penalty using a multi-stage flash cascade process, where high-purity water is produced as a side product. Alternative reforming techniques such as CO 2 reforming, autothermal reforming, and partial oxidation are considered. The capital and energy costs of the proposed process are considered to determine the levelized cost of electricity, which is low when compared to other similar carbon capture-enabled processes.

Ultra-low switching energy and scaling in electric-field-controlled nanoscale magnetic tunnel junctions with high resistance-area product

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grezes, C.; Alzate, J. G.; Cai, X.

2016-01-04

We report electric-field-induced switching with write energies down to 6 fJ/bit for switching times of 0.5 ns, in nanoscale perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with high resistance-area product and diameters down to 50 nm. The ultra-low switching energy is made possible by a thick MgO barrier that ensures negligible spin-transfer torque contributions, along with a reduction of the Ohmic dissipation. We find that the switching voltage and time are insensitive to the junction diameter for high-resistance MTJs, a result accounted for by a macrospin model of purely voltage-induced switching. The measured performance enables integration with same-size CMOS transistors in compact memorymore » and logic integrated circuits.« less

Rapid Solidification and Phase Transformations in Additive Manufactured Materials

DOE PAGES

Asle Zaeem, Mohsen; Clarke, Amy Jean

2016-01-14

Within the past few years, additive manufacturing (AM) has emerged as a promising manufacturing technique to enable the production of complex engineering structures with high efficiency and accuracy. Among the important factors establishing AM as a sustainable manufacturing process is the ability to control the microstructures and properties of AM products. In most AM processes, such as laser sintering (LS), laser melting (LM), and laser metal deposition (LMD), rapid solidification and high-temperature phase transformations play primary roles in determining nano- and microstructures, and consequently the mechanical and other properties of AM products. This topic of JOM is dedicated to summarizingmore » the current research efforts in the area of rapid solidification and phase transformations in additively manufactured materials. Finally, a brief summary follows below of 10 journal articles in this topic.« less

Development of Manufacturing Technology to Accelerate Cost Reduction of Low Concentration and

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Detrick, Adam

The purpose of this project was to accelerate deployment of cost-effective US-based manufacturing of Solaria’s unique c-Si module technology. This effort successfully resulted in the development of US-based manufacturing technology to support two highly-differentiated, market leading product platforms. The project was initially predicated on developing Solaria’s low-concentration PV (LCPV) module technology which at the time of the award was uniquely positioned to exceed the SunShot price goal of $0.50/Wp for standard c-Si modules. The Solaria LCPV module is a 2.5x concentrator that leverages proven, high-reliability PV module materials and low silicon cell usage into a technology package that already hadmore » the lowest direct material cost and leading Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE). With over 25 MW commercially deployed globally, the Solaria module was well positioned to continue to lead in PV module cost reduction. Throughout the term of the contract, market conditions changed dramatically and so to did Solaria’s product offerings to support this. However, the manufacturing technology developed for the LCPV module was successfully leveraged and optimized to support two new and different product platforms. BIPV “PowerVision” and High-efficiency “PowerXT” modules. The primary barrier to enabling high-volume PV module manufacturing in the US is the high manual labor component in certain unique aspects of our manufacturing process. The funding was used to develop unique manufacturing automation which makes the manual labor components of these key processes more efficient and increase throughput. At the core of Solaria’s product offerings are its unique and proprietary techniques for dicing and re-arranging solar cells into modules with highly-differentiated characteristics that address key gaps in the c-Si market. It is these techniques that were successfully evolved and deployed into US-based manufacturing site with SunShot funding. Today, Solaria is currently positioned to become the market leader with these two technologies over the coming 24 months largely due to the successful innovations of the underlying manufacturing technology. This success will leverage US-based manufacturing technology and the associated US-jobs to support. Solaria views the project as highly successful and a great example of SunShot funding enabling the creating of US jobs and the deployment of ubiquitous solar energy products.« less

A self-learning camera for the validation of highly variable and pseudorandom patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelley, Michael

2004-05-01

Reliable and productive manufacturing operations have depended on people to quickly detect and solve problems whenever they appear. Over the last 20 years, more and more manufacturing operations have embraced machine vision systems to increase productivity, reliability and cost-effectiveness, including reducing the number of human operators required. Although machine vision technology has long been capable of solving simple problems, it has still not been broadly implemented. The reason is that until now, no machine vision system has been designed to meet the unique demands of complicated pattern recognition. The ZiCAM family was specifically developed to be the first practical hardware to meet these needs. To be able to address non-traditional applications, the machine vision industry must include smart camera technology that meets its users" demands for lower costs, better performance and the ability to address applications of irregular lighting, patterns and color. The next-generation smart cameras will need to evolve as a fundamentally different kind of sensor, with new technology that behaves like a human but performs like a computer. Neural network based systems, coupled with self-taught, n-space, non-linear modeling, promises to be the enabler of the next generation of machine vision equipment. Image processing technology is now available that enables a system to match an operator"s subjectivity. A Zero-Instruction-Set-Computer (ZISC) powered smart camera allows high-speed fuzzy-logic processing, without the need for computer programming. This can address applications of validating highly variable and pseudo-random patterns. A hardware-based implementation of a neural network, Zero-Instruction-Set-Computer, enables a vision system to "think" and "inspect" like a human, with the speed and reliability of a machine.

Status of High Data Rate Intersatellite Laser Communication as an Enabler for Earth and Space Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heine, F.; Zech, H.; Motzigemba, M.

2017-12-01

Space based laser communication is supporting earth observation and science missions with Gbps data download capabilities. Currently the Sentinel 1 and Sentinel 2 spacecrafts from the Copernicus earth observation program of the European Commission are using the Gbps laser communication links developed by Tesat Spacecom to download low latency data products via a commercial geostationary laser relay station- the European Data Relay Service- (EDRS) as a standard data path, in parallel to the conventional radio frequency links. The paper reports on the status of high bandwidth space laser communication as an enabler for small and large space science missions ranging from cube sat applications in low earth orbit to deep space missions. Space based laser communication has left the experimental phase and will support space science missions with unprecedented data rates.

Wavelet based comparison of high frequency oscillations in the geodetic and fluid excitation functions of polar motion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kosek, W.; Popinski, W.; Niedzielski, T.

2011-10-01

It has been already shown that short period oscillations in polar motion, with periods less than 100 days, are very chaotic and are responsible for increase in short-term prediction errors of pole coordinates data. The wavelet technique enables to compare the geodetic and fluid excitation functions in the high frequency band in many different ways, e.g. by looking at the semblance function. The waveletbased semblance filtering enables determination the common signal in both geodetic and fluid excitation time series. In this paper the considered fluid excitation functions consist of the atmospheric, oceanic and land hydrology excitation functions from ECMWF atmospheric data produced by IERS Associated Product Centre Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum, Potsdam. The geodetic excitation functions have been computed from the combined IERS pole coordinates data.

Passivated iodine pentoxide oxidizer for potential biocidal nanoenergetic applications.

PubMed

Feng, Jingyu; Jian, Guoqiang; Liu, Qing; Zachariah, Michael R

2013-09-25

Iodine pentoxide (I2O5), also known as diiodine pentoxide, is a strong oxidizer which has been recently proposed as an iodine-rich oxidizer in nanoenergetic formulations, whose combustion products lead to molecular iodine as a biocidal agent. However, its highly hygroscopic nature hinders its performance as a strong oxidizer and an iodine releasing agent and prevents its implementation. In this work, we developed a gas phase assisted aerosol spray pyrolysis which enables creation of iron oxide passivated I2O5. Transmission electron microscopy elemental imaging as well as temperature-jump mass spectrometry confirmed the core shell nature of the material and the fact that I2O5 could be encapsulated in pure unhydrated form. Combustion performance finds an optimal coating thickness that enables combustion performance similar to a high performing CuO based thermite.

Continued improvement in reduced-mode (REM) diodes enable 272 W from 105 μm 0.15 NA beam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanskar, M.; Bao, L.; Chen, Z.; Dawson, D.; DeVito, M.; Dong, W.; Grimshaw, M.; Guan, X.; Hemenway, M.; Martinsen, R.; Urbanek, W.; Zhang, S.

2017-02-01

High-power, high-brightness diode lasers from 8xx nm to 9xx nm have been pursued in many applications including fiber laser pumping, materials processing, solid-state laser pumping, and consumer electronics manufacturing. In particular, 915 nm - 976 nm diodes are of interest as diode pumps for the kilowatt CW fiber lasers. Thus, there have been many technical efforts on driving the diode lasers to have both high power and high brightness to achieve high-performance and reduced manufacturing costs. This paper presents our continued progress in the development of high brightness fiber-coupled product platform, elementTM. In the past decade, the amount of power coupled into a single 105 μm and 0.15 NA fiber has increased by over a factor of ten through improved diode laser brilliance and the development of techniques for efficiently coupling multiple emitters into a single fiber. In this paper, we demonstrate the further brightness improvement and power-scaling enabled by both the rise in chip brightness/power and the increase in number of chips coupled into a given numerical aperture. We report a new x-REM design with brightness as high as 4.3 W/mm-mrad at a BPP of 3 mm-mrad. We also report the record 272W from a 2×9 elementTM with 105 μm/0.15 NA beam using x-REM diodes and a new product introduction at 200W output power from 105 μm/0.15 NA beam at 915 nm.

Improvement in reduced-mode (REM) diodes enable 315 W from 105-μm 0.15-NA fiber-coupled modules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanskar, M.; Bao, L.; Chen, Z.; Dawson, D.; DeVito, M.; Dong, W.; Grimshaw, M.; Guan, X.; Hemenway, M.; Martinsen, R.; Urbanek, W.; Zhang, S.

2018-02-01

High-power, high-brightness diode lasers have been pursued for many applications including fiber laser pumping, materials processing, solid-state laser pumping, and consumer electronics manufacturing. In particular, 915 nm - and 976 nm diodes are of interest as diode pumps for the kilowatt CW fiber lasers. As a result, there have been many technical thrusts for driving the diode lasers to have both high power and high brightness to achieve high-performance and reduced manufacturing costs. This paper presents our continued progress in the development of high brightness fiber-coupled product platform, nLIGHT element®. In the past decade, the power coupled into a single 105 μm and 0.15 NA fiber has increased by over a factor of ten through improved diode laser brightness and the development of techniques for efficiently coupling multiple emitters. In this paper, we demonstrate further brightness improvement and power-scaling enabled by both the rise in chip brightness/power and the increase in number of chips coupled into a given numerical aperture. We report a new chip technology using x-REM design with brightness as high as 4.3 W/mm-mrad at a BPP of 3 mm-mrad. We also report record 315 W output from a 2×12 nLIGHT element with 105 μm diameter fiber using x-REM diodes and these diodes will allow next generation of fiber-coupled product capable of 250W output power from 105 μm/0.15 NA beam at 915 nm.

Development of a commercial scale process for production of 1,4-butanediol from sugar.

PubMed

Burgard, Anthony; Burk, Mark J; Osterhout, Robin; Van Dien, Stephen; Yim, Harry

2016-12-01

A sustainable bioprocess for the production of 1,4-butanediol (BDO) from carbohydrate feedstocks was developed. BDO is a chemical intermediate that goes into a variety of products including automotive parts, electronics, and apparel, and is currently manufactured commercially through energy-intensive petrochemical processes using fossil raw materials. This review highlights the development of an Escherichia coli strain and an overall process that successfully performed at commercial scale for direct production of bio-BDO from dextrose. Achieving such high level performance required an integrated technology platform enabling detailed engineering of enzyme, pathway, metabolic network, and organism, as well as development of effective fermentation and downstream recovery processes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Elaboration of Pseudo-natural Products Using Artificial In Vitro Biosynthesis Systems].

PubMed

Goto, Yuki

2018-01-01

 Peptidic natural products often consist of not only proteinogenic building blocks but also unique non-proteinogenic structures such as macrocyclic scaffolds and N-methylated backbones. Since such non-proteinogenic structures are important structural motifs that contribute to diverse bioactivity, we have proposed that peptides with non-proteinogenic structures should be attractive candidates as artificial bioactive peptides mimicking natural products, or so-called pseudo-natural products. We previously devised an engineered translation system for pseudo-natural peptides, referred to as the flexible in vitro translation (FIT) system. This system enabled "one-pot" synthesis of highly diverse pseudo-natural peptide libraries, which can be rapidly screened by mRNA display technology for the discovery of pseudo-natural peptides with diverse bioactivities.

Advanced development: Fuels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramohalli, K.

1981-05-01

The solar thermal fuels and chemicals program at Jet Propulsion Laboratory are described. High technology is developed and applied to displace fossil fuel (oil) use in the production/processing of valuable fuels and chemicals. The technical and economic feasibility is demonstrated to extent that enables the industry to participate and commercialize the product. A representative process, namely Furfural production with a bottoming of acetone, butanol and ethanol, is described. Experimental data from all solar production of furfural is discussed. Estimates are given to show the attractiveness of this process, considering its flexibility to be adaptable to dishes, troughs or central receivers. Peat, lignite and low rank coal processing, heavy oil stripping and innovative technologies for process diagnostics and control are mentioned as examples of current projects under intensive development.

Advanced development: Fuels

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramohalli, K.

1981-01-01

The solar thermal fuels and chemicals program at Jet Propulsion Laboratory are described. High technology is developed and applied to displace fossil fuel (oil) use in the production/processing of valuable fuels and chemicals. The technical and economic feasibility is demonstrated to extent that enables the industry to participate and commercialize the product. A representative process, namely Furfural production with a bottoming of acetone, butanol and ethanol, is described. Experimental data from all solar production of furfural is discussed. Estimates are given to show the attractiveness of this process, considering its flexibility to be adaptable to dishes, troughs or central receivers. Peat, lignite and low rank coal processing, heavy oil stripping and innovative technologies for process diagnostics and control are mentioned as examples of current projects under intensive development.

A pulsed injection parahydrogen generator and techniques for quantifying enrichment.

PubMed

Feng, Bibo; Coffey, Aaron M; Colon, Raul D; Chekmenev, Eduard Y; Waddell, Kevin W

2012-01-01

A device is presented for efficiently enriching parahydrogen by pulsed injection of ambient hydrogen gas. Hydrogen input to the generator is pulsed at high pressure to a catalyst chamber making thermal contact with the cold head of a closed-cycle cryocooler maintained between 15 and 20K. The system enables fast production (0.9 standard liters per minute) and allows for a wide range of production targets. Production rates can be systematically adjusted by varying the actuation sequence of high-pressure solenoid valves, which are controlled via an open source microcontroller to sample all combinations between fast and thorough enrichment by varying duration of hydrogen contact in the catalyst chamber. The entire enrichment cycle from optimization to quantification and storage kinetics are also described. Conversion of the para spin-isomer to orthohydrogen in borosilicate tubes was measured at 8 min intervals over a period of 64 h with a 12 T NMR spectrometer. These relaxation curves were then used to extract initial enrichment by exploiting the known equilibrium (relaxed) distribution of spin isomers with linear least squares fitting to a single exponential decay curve with an estimated error less than or equal to 1%. This procedure is time-consuming, but requires only one sample pressurized to atmosphere. Given that tedious matching to external references are unnecessary with this procedure, we find it to be useful for periodic inspection of generator performance. The equipment and procedures offer a variation in generator design that eliminate the need to meter flow while enabling access to increased rates of production. These tools for enriching and quantifying parahydrogen have been in steady use for 3 years and should be helpful as a template or as reference material for building and operating a parahydrogen production facility. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Pulsed Injection Parahydrogen Generator and Techniques for Quantifying Enrichment

PubMed Central

Feng, Bibo; Coffey, Aaron M.; Colon, Raul D.; Chekmenev, Eduard Y.; Waddell, Kevin W.

2012-01-01

A device is presented for efficiently enriching parahydrogen by pulsed injection of ambient hydrogen gas. Hydrogen input to the generator is pulsed at high pressure to a catalyst chamber making thermal contact with the cold head of a closed cycle cryostat maintained between 15 and 20 K. The system enables fast production (0.9 standard liters per minute) and allows for a wide range of production targets. Production rates can be systematically adjusted by varying the actuation sequence of high-pressure solenoid valves, which are controlled via an open source microcontroller to sample all combinations between fast and thorough enrichment by varying duration of hydrogen contact in the catalyst chamber. The entire enrichment cycle from optimization to quantification and storage kinetics are also described. Conversion of the para spin-isomer to orthohydrogen in borosilicate tubes was measured at 8 minute intervals over a period of 64 hours with a 12 Tesla NMR spectrometer. These relaxation curves were then used to extract initial enrichment by exploiting the known equilibrium (relaxed) distribution of spin isomers with linear least squares fitting to a single exponential decay curve with an estimated error less than or equal to 1 %. This procedure is time-consuming, but requires only one sample pressurized to atmosphere. Given that tedious matching to external references are unnecessary with this procedure, we find it to be useful for periodic inspection of generator performance. The equipment and procedures offer a variation in generator design that eliminate the need to meter flow while enabling access to increased rates of production. These tools for enriching and quantifying parahydrogen have been in steady use for 3 years and should be helpful as a template or as reference material for building and operating a parahydrogen production facility. PMID:22188975

Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) discovery in rainbow trout using restriction site associated DNA (RAD) sequencing of doubled haploids and assessment of polymorphism in a population survey

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Background: Our goal is to produce a high-throughput SNP genotyping platform for genomic analyses in rainbow trout that will enable fine mapping of QTL, whole genome association studies, genomic selection for improved aquaculture production traits, and genetic analyses of wild populations that aid ...

Chemoselective organocatalytic aerobic oxidation of primary amines to secondary imines.

PubMed

Wendlandt, Alison E; Stahl, Shannon S

2012-06-01

Biomimetic aerobic oxidation of primary benzylic amines has been achieved by using a quinone catalyst. Excellent selectivity is observed for primary, unbranched benzylic amines relative to secondary/tertiary amines, branched benzylic amines, and aliphatic amines. The exquisite selectivity for benzylic amines enables oxidative self-sorting within dynamic mixtures of amines and imines to afford high yields of cross-coupled imine products.

Engineering Robust Yeasts for Biorefinery Applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lee, Taek Soon; Niles, Brad; Chow, Ruthie

2016-06-22

Isoprene is highly-valued terpene based-chemical feedstock and can be derived from either petroleum or from fermentation of plant biomass. This project enabled more efficient isoprene fermentation using renewable resources and at yields that can compete economically with non-renewable sources. This Phase I project applied a novel synthetic biology approach, the Artificial Positive Feedback Loop (APFL) technology, to improve production yields of isoprene.

X-Ray Optics at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

O'Dell, Stephen L.; Atkins, Carolyn; Broadway, David M.; Elsner, Ronald F.; Gaskin, Jessica A.; Gubarev, Mikhail V.; Kilaru, Kiranmayee; Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J.; Ramsey, Brian D.; Roche, Jacqueline M.;

Nanoscience and nanotechnology in next generation lithium batteries*

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dunn, Bruce; Liu, Ping; Meng, Shirley

2013-10-01

Lithium ion batteries have enabled the portable electronics revolution that changed how we communicate and share information. They have also started to penetrate the vehicle electrification and grid storage markets, two applications that are at the core of a sustainable future. In the pursuit of higher energy densities, lower costs, and longer life, nanotechnology is regularly employed to create new materials and processes in order to achieve these goals. A wonderful example is the commercialization of the lithium iron phosphate cathode which functions as a high power material only in a nanophase form, clearly demonstrating the benefit of nanotechnology. Materials engineered at the nanoscale are expected to offer a suite of advantages: high power densities are enabled by much reduced solid-state diffusion distance; high surface area reduces the effective current density; and new material structures and compositions are stabilized by nanostructuring, leading to new charge storage mechanisms. On the other hand, the use of nanomaterials in lithium ion batteries raises significant technological challenges. Thermodynamically unstable electrode/electrolyte interfaces combined with the high surface area of nanomaterials magnify the side reactions leading to performance losses. In addition electrically connecting large amounts of nanoparticles requires the use of large amounts of conducting diluents. Nanomaterials also tend to have low tap densities and are often more expensive to produce. In order for lithium ion batteries to meet the performance and cost requirements for vehicle electrification and grid storage, they increasingly employ electrode materials with challenging reaction kinetics, such as limited ionic and electronic conductivities and complex multiphase processes. By understanding nanoscale processes and using this understanding to extend the spatial scale over which battery design can be implemented, nanotechnology is expected to play an increasingly important role in enabling these new chemistries. As illustrated by the papers in this issue, new synthesis, characterization, and computational tools will facilitate this design and enable us to identify new material systems as well as their economical production. This special issue provides a snapshot of how various aspects of nanotechnology are being integrated in lithium ion batteries. Topics covered include synthesis of nanostructured intercalation and alloy anode materials, fundamental studies of the structure and mechanisms of nanostructured cathode materials based on intercalation and conversion, nanostructured solid-state electrolytes, and hierarchical electrode materials that contain nanometer scale building blocks. Acknowledgments We are grateful to all the contributors for their high-quality submissions. We also thank the editorial and production staff for their guidance in the production of this issue. *The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Energy or the United States.

Research Instruments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

The GENETI-SCANNER, newest product of Perceptive Scientific Instruments, Inc. (PSI), rapidly scans slides, locates, digitizes, measures and classifies specific objects and events in research and diagnostic applications. Founded by former NASA employees, PSI's primary product line is based on NASA image processing technology. The instruments karyotype - a process employed in analysis and classification of chromosomes - using a video camera mounted on a microscope. Images are digitized, enabling chromosome image enhancement. The system enables karyotyping to be done significantly faster, increasing productivity and lowering costs. Product is no longer being manufactured.

Parallel production and verification of protein products using a novel high-throughput screening method.

PubMed

Tegel, Hanna; Yderland, Louise; Boström, Tove; Eriksson, Cecilia; Ukkonen, Kaisa; Vasala, Antti; Neubauer, Peter; Ottosson, Jenny; Hober, Sophia

2011-08-01

Protein production and analysis in a parallel fashion is today applied in laboratories worldwide and there is a great need to improve the techniques and systems used for this purpose. In order to save time and money, a fast and reliable screening method for analysis of protein production and also verification of the protein product is desired. Here, a micro-scale protocol for the parallel production and screening of 96 proteins in plate format is described. Protein capture was achieved using immobilized metal affinity chromatography and the product was verified using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight MS. In order to obtain sufficiently high cell densities and product yield in the small-volume cultivations, the EnBase® cultivation technology was applied, which enables cultivation in as small volumes as 150 μL. Here, the efficiency of the method is demonstrated by producing 96 human, recombinant proteins, both in micro-scale and using a standard full-scale protocol and comparing the results in regard to both protein identity and sample purity. The results obtained are highly comparable to those acquired through employing standard full-scale purification protocols, thus validating this method as a successful initial screening step before protein production at a larger scale. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The productivity limit of manufacturing blood cell therapy in scalable stirred bioreactors

PubMed Central

Bayley, Rachel; Ahmed, Forhad; Glen, Katie; McCall, Mark; Stacey, Adrian

2017-01-01

Abstract Manufacture of red blood cells (RBCs) from progenitors has been proposed as a method to reduce reliance on donors. Such a process would need to be extremely efficient for economic viability given a relatively low value product and high (2 × 1012) cell dose. Therefore, the aim of these studies was to define the productivity of an industry standard stirred‐tank bioreactor and determine engineering limitations of commercial red blood cells production. Cord blood derived CD34+ cells were cultured under erythroid differentiation conditions in a stirred micro‐bioreactor (Ambr™). Enucleated cells of 80% purity could be created under optimal physical conditions: pH 7.5, 50% oxygen, without gas‐sparging (which damaged cells) and with mechanical agitation (which directly increased enucleation). O2 consumption was low (~5 × 10–8 μg/cell.h) theoretically enabling erythroblast densities in excess of 5 × 108/ml in commercial bioreactors and sub‐10 l/unit production volumes. The bioreactor process achieved a 24% and 42% reduction in media volume and culture time, respectively, relative to unoptimized flask processing. However, media exchange limited productivity to 1 unit of erythroblasts per 500 l of media. Systematic replacement of media constituents, as well as screening for inhibitory levels of ammonia, lactate and key cytokines did not identify a reason for this limitation. We conclude that the properties of erythroblasts are such that the conventional constraints on cell manufacturing efficiency, such as mass transfer and metabolic demand, should not prevent high intensity production; furthermore, this could be achieved in industry standard equipment. However, identification and removal of an inhibitory mediator is required to enable these economies to be realized. Copyright © 2016 The Authors Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. PMID:27696710

Visible-light-promoted redox neutral C-H amidation of heteroarenes with hydroxylamine derivatives.

PubMed

Qin, Qixue; Yu, Shouyun

2014-07-03

A room temperature redox neutral direct C-H amidation of heteroarenes has been achieved. Hydroxylamine derivatives, which are easily accessed, have been employed as tunable nitrogen sources. These reactions were enabled by a visible-light-promoted single-electron transfer pathway without a directing group. A variety of heteroarenes, such as indoles, pyrroles, and furans, could go through this amidation with high yields (up to 98%). These reactions are highly regioselective, and all the products were isolated as a single regioisomer.

Allylic aminations with hindered secondary amine nucleophiles catalyzed by heterobimetallic Pd-Ti complexes.

PubMed

Walker, Whitney K; Anderson, Diana L; Stokes, Ryjul W; Smith, Stacey J; Michaelis, David J

2015-02-06

Phosphinoamide-scaffolded heterobimetallic palladium-titanium complexes are highly effective catalysts for allylic aminations of allylic chlorides with hindered secondary amine nucleophiles. Three titanium-containing ligands are shown to assemble active catalysts in situ and enable catalysis at room temperature. A variety of sterically bulky secondary amines are efficiently allylated in high yields with as little as 1 mol % palladium catalyst. Piperidine and pyrrolidine products are also efficiently generated via intramolecular aminations with hindered amine nucleophiles.

Production of Magnesium and Aluminum-Magnesium Alloys from Recycled Secondary Aluminum Scrap Melts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gesing, Adam J.; Das, Subodh K.; Loutfy, Raouf O.

2016-02-01

An experimental proof of concept was demonstrated for a patent-pending and trademark-pending RE12™ process for extracting a desired amount of Mg from recycled scrap secondary Al melts. Mg was extracted by electrorefining, producing a Mg product suitable as a Mg alloying hardener additive to primary-grade Al alloys. This efficient electrorefining process operates at high current efficiency, high Mg recovery and low energy consumption. The Mg electrorefining product can meet all the impurity specifications with subsequent melt treatment for removing alkali contaminants. All technical results obtained in the RE12™ project indicate that the electrorefining process for extraction of Mg from Al melt is technically feasible. A techno-economic analysis indicates high potential profitability for applications in Al foundry alloys as well as beverage—can and automotive—sheet alloys. The combination of technical feasibility and potential market profitability completes a successful proof of concept. This economical, environmentally-friendly and chlorine-free RE12™ process could be disruptive and transformational for the Mg production industry by enabling the recycling of 30,000 tonnes of primary-quality Mg annually.

Investigation of enablers of knowledge transfer in the medical industry.

PubMed

Tuan, Han-Wen

2008-01-01

This paper presents a research model for investigating the relationship between organisational enablers and the Knowledge Transfer (KT) Performance (KTP) in the medical industry. The enablers include leadership, organisational culture, Information Technology (IT) and individual performance measurement, and KTP is determined by individual capability, organisational capability and product/service innovation. This paper chose professional medical personnel as the research subject to determine whether or not these enablers affect KT. The findings show that only leadership directly affects the KTP, with IT also impacting both organisational capability and product/service innovation. The implications of these findings are discussed based on interviews with experts and practitioners.

Bilingual Language Control in Perception versus Action: MEG Reveals Comprehension Control Mechanisms in Anterior Cingulate Cortex and Domain-General Control of Production in Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex.

PubMed

Blanco-Elorrieta, Esti; Pylkkänen, Liina

2016-01-13

For multilingual individuals, adaptive goal-directed behavior as enabled by cognitive control includes the management of two or more languages. This work used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to investigate the degree of neural overlap between language control and domain-general cognitive control both in action and perception. Highly proficient Arabic-English bilingual individuals participated in maximally parallel language-switching tasks in production and comprehension as well as in analogous tasks in which, instead of the used language, the semantic category of the comprehended/produced word changed. Our results indicated a clear dissociation of language control mechanisms in production versus comprehension. Language-switching in production recruited dorsolateral prefrontal regions bilaterally and, importantly, these regions were similarly recruited by category-switching. Conversely, effects of language-switching in comprehension were observed in the anterior cingulate cortex and were not shared by category-switching. These results suggest that bilingual individuals rely on adaptive language control strategies and that the neural involvement during language-switching could be extensively influenced by whether the switch is active (e.g., in production) or passive (e.g., in comprehension). In addition, these results support that humans require high-level cognitive control to switch languages in production, but the comprehension of language switches recruits a distinct neural circuitry. The use of MEG enabled us to obtain the first characterization of the spatiotemporal profile of these effects, establishing that switching processes begin ∼ 400 ms after stimulus presentation. This research addresses the neural mechanisms underlying multilingual individuals' ability to successfully manage two or more languages, critically targeting whether language control is uniform across linguistic domains (production and comprehension) and whether it is a subdomain of general cognitive control. The results showed that language production and comprehension rely on different networks: whereas language control in production recruited domain-general networks, the brain bases of switching during comprehension seemed language specific. Therefore, the crucial assumption of the bilingual advantage hypothesis, that there is a close relationship between language control and general cognitive control, seems to only hold during production. Copyright © 2016 the authors 0270-6474/16/360290-12$15.00/0.

Scale-down of vinegar production into microtiter plates using a custom-made lid.

PubMed

Schlepütz, Tino; Büchs, Jochen

2014-04-01

As an important food preservative and condiment, vinegar is widely produced in industry by submerged acetic acid bacteria cultures. Although vinegar production is established on the large scale, up to now suitable microscale cultivation methods, e.g. using microtiter plates, are missing to enable high-throughput cultivation and to optimize fermentation conditions. In order to minimize evaporation losses of ethanol and acetic acid in a 48-well microtiter plate during vinegar production a new custom-made lid was developed. A diffusion model was used to calculate the dimensions of a hole in the lid to guarantee a suitable oxygen supply and level of ventilation. Reference fermentation was conducted in a 9-L bioreactor to enable the calculation of the proper cultivation conditions in the microtiter plate. The minimum dissolved oxygen tensions in the microtiter plate were between 7.5% and 23% of air saturation and in the same range as in the 9-L bioreactor. Evaporation losses of ethanol and acetic acid were less than 5% after 47 h and considerably reduced compared to those of microtiter plate fermentations with a conventional gas-permeable seal. Furthermore, cultivation times in the microtiter plate were with about 40 h as long as in the 9-L bioreactor. In conclusion, microtiter plate cultivations with the new custom-made lid provide a platform for high-throughput studies on vinegar production. Results are comparable to those in the 9-L bioreactor. Copyright © 2013 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Integration of analytical instruments with computer scripting.

PubMed

Carvalho, Matheus C

2013-08-01

Automation of laboratory routines aided by computer software enables high productivity and is the norm nowadays. However, the integration of different instruments made by different suppliers is still difficult, because to accomplish it, the user must have knowledge of electronics and/or low-level programming. An alternative approach is to control different instruments without an electronic connection between them, relying only on their software interface on a computer. This can be achieved through scripting, which is the emulation of user operations (mouse clicks and keyboard inputs) on the computer. The main advantages of this approach are its simplicity, which enables people with minimal knowledge of computer programming to employ it, and its universality, which enables the integration of instruments made by different suppliers, meaning that the user is totally free to choose the devices to be integrated. Therefore, scripting can be a useful, accessible, and economic solution for laboratory automation.

Pyranone natural products as inspirations for catalytic reaction discovery and development.

PubMed

McDonald, Benjamin R; Scheidt, Karl A

2015-04-21

Natural products continue to provide a wealth of opportunities in the areas of chemical and therapeutic development. These structures are effective measuring sticks for the current state of chemical synthesis as a field and constantly inspire new approaches and strategies. Tetrahydropryans and tetrahydropyran-4-ones are found in numerous bioactive marine natural products and medicinal compounds. Our interest in exploring the therapeutic potential of natural products containing these motifs provided the impetus to explore new methods to access highly functionalized, chiral pyran molecules in the most direct and rapid fashion possible. This goal led to exploration and development of a Lewis acid-mediated Prins reaction between a chiral β-hydroxy-dioxinone and aldehyde to produce a pyran-dioxinone fused product that can be processed in a single pot operation to the desired tetrahydropyran-4-ones in excellent yield and stereoselectivity. Although the Prins reaction is a commonly employed approach toward pyrans, this method uniquely provides a 3-carboxy-trisubstituted pyran and utilizes dioxinones in a manner that was underexplored at the time. The 3-carboxy substituent served as a key synthetic handhold when this method was applied to the synthesis of highly functionalized pyrans within the macrocyclic natural products neopeltolide, okilactiomycin, and exiguolide. When employed in challenging macrocyclizations, this tetrahydropyranone forming reaction proved highly stereoselective and robust. Another major thrust in our lab has been the synthesis of benzopyranone natural products, specifically flavonoids, because this broad and diverse family of compounds possesses an equally broad range of biological and medicinal applications. With the goal of developing a broad platform toward the synthesis of enantioenriched flavonoid analogs and natural products, a biomimetic, asymmetric catalytic approach toward the synthesis of 2-aryl benzopyranones was developed. A bifunctional hydrogen bonding/Brønstead base catalyst was ultimately found to enable this transformation in analogous manner to the biosynthesis via the enzyme chalcone isomerase. Employing thiourea catalysts derived from the pseudoenantiomeric quinine and quinidine, alkylidene β-ketoesters can be isomerized to 3-carboxy flavanones and decarboxylated in a single pot operation to stereodivergently provide highly enantioenriched flavanones in excellent yield. This method was applied to the synthesis of the abyssinone family of natural products, as well as the rotenoid, deguelin. An analogous method to isomerize chalcones was developed and applied to the synthesis of isosilybin A. In both of these related endeavors, the need for novel enabling methodologies toward the efficient creation of targeted molecular complexity drove the discovery, development and deployment of these stereoselective catalytic transformations.

Process Performance of Optima XEx Single Wafer High Energy Implanter

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kim, J. H.; Yoon, Jongyoon; Kondratenko, S.

2011-01-07

To meet the process requirements for well formation in future CMOS memory production, high energy implanters require more robust angle, dose, and energy control while maintaining high productivity. The Optima XEx high energy implanter meets these requirements by integrating a traditional LINAC beamline with a robust single wafer handling system. To achieve beam angle control, Optima XEx can control both the horizontal and vertical beam angles to within 0.1 degrees using advanced beam angle measurement and correction. Accurate energy calibration and energy trim functions accelerate process matching by eliminating energy calibration errors. The large volume process chamber and UDC (upstreammore » dose control) using faraday cups outside of the process chamber precisely control implant dose regardless of any chamber pressure increase due to PR (photoresist) outgassing. An optimized RF LINAC accelerator improves reliability and enables singly charged phosphorus and boron energies up to 1200 keV and 1500 keV respectively with higher beam currents. A new single wafer endstation combined with increased beam performance leads to overall increased productivity. We report on the advanced performance of Optima XEx observed during tool installation and volume production at an advanced memory fab.« less

In the blink of an eye: head mounted displays development within BAE Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cameron, Alex

2015-05-01

There has been an explosion of interest in head worn displays in recent years, particularly for consumer applications with an attendant ramping up of investment into key enabling technologies to provide what is essence a mobile computer display. However, head mounted system have been around for over 40 years and today's consumer products are building on a legacy of knowledge and technology created by companies such as BAE Systems who have been designing and fielding helmet mounted displays (HMD) for a wide range of specialist applications. Although the dominant application area has been military aviation, solutions have been fielded for solider, ground vehicle, simulation, medical, racing car and even subsea navigation applications. What sets these HMDs apart is that they provide the user with accurate conformal information embedded in the users real world view where the information presented is intuitive and easy to use because it overlays the real world and enables them to stay head up, eyes out, - improving their effectiveness, reducing workload and improving safety. Such systems are an enabling technology in the provision of enhanced Situation Awareness (SA) and reducing user workload in high intensity situations. These capabilities are finding much wider application in new types of compact man mounted audio/visual products enabled by the emergence of new families of micro displays, novel optical concepts and ultra-compact low power processing solutions. This paper therefore provides a personal summary of BAE Systems 40 year's journey in developing and fielding Head Mounted systems, their applications.

Chiral amine synthesis using ω-transaminases: an amine donor that displaces equilibria and enables high-throughput screening.

PubMed

Green, Anthony P; Turner, Nicholas J; O'Reilly, Elaine

2014-09-26

The widespread application of ω-transaminases as biocatalysts for chiral amine synthesis has been hampered by fundamental challenges, including unfavorable equilibrium positions and product inhibition. Herein, an efficient process that allows reactions to proceed in high conversion in the absence of by-product removal using only one equivalent of a diamine donor (ortho-xylylenediamine) is reported. This operationally simple method is compatible with the most widely used (R)- and (S)-selective ω-TAs and is particularly suitable for the conversion of substrates with unfavorable equilibrium positions (e.g., 1-indanone). Significantly, spontaneous polymerization of the isoindole by-product generates colored derivatives, providing a high-throughput screening platform to identify desired ω-TA activity. © 2014 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Quantitative and Systems Pharmacology. 1. In Silico Prediction of Drug-Target Interactions of Natural Products Enables New Targeted Cancer Therapy.

PubMed

Fang, Jiansong; Wu, Zengrui; Cai, Chuipu; Wang, Qi; Tang, Yun; Cheng, Feixiong

2017-11-27

Natural products with diverse chemical scaffolds have been recognized as an invaluable source of compounds in drug discovery and development. However, systematic identification of drug targets for natural products at the human proteome level via various experimental assays is highly expensive and time-consuming. In this study, we proposed a systems pharmacology infrastructure to predict new drug targets and anticancer indications of natural products. Specifically, we reconstructed a global drug-target network with 7,314 interactions connecting 751 targets and 2,388 natural products and built predictive network models via a balanced substructure-drug-target network-based inference approach. A high area under receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.96 was yielded for predicting new targets of natural products during cross-validation. The newly predicted targets of natural products (e.g., resveratrol, genistein, and kaempferol) with high scores were validated by various literature studies. We further built the statistical network models for identification of new anticancer indications of natural products through integration of both experimentally validated and computationally predicted drug-target interactions of natural products with known cancer proteins. We showed that the significantly predicted anticancer indications of multiple natural products (e.g., naringenin, disulfiram, and metformin) with new mechanism-of-action were validated by various published experimental evidence. In summary, this study offers powerful computational systems pharmacology approaches and tools for the development of novel targeted cancer therapies by exploiting the polypharmacology of natural products.

Validation of the AATSR L2 GSST product with in situ measurements from the M-AERI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noyes, E.; Minnett, P.; Remedios, J.; Mannerings, B.; Corlett, G.; Edwards, M.; Llewellyn-Jones, D.

Precise, in situ, measurements of skin Sea Surface Temperature (SSST) have been obtained over the Eastern Caribbean Sea, using the Marine Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (M-AERI) deployed onboard the Explorer of the Seas cruise ship. These measurements provide a near-continuous SSST dataset and have been used to validate the Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) Level 2 operational dual-view Gridded Sea Surface Temperature (GSST) product over the area. The (A)ATSR instrument has a unique design in that it has both a nadir- and forward-view, allowing the Earth's surface to be viewed along two different atmospheric path lengths and enabling an improved atmospheric correction to be made when retrieving measurements of SST. The infrared radiometer also uses an innovative and exceptionally stable on-board calibration system, which, together with actively cooled detectors, gives exceptionally high radiometric sensitivity and precision, enabling SSTs to be retrieved to within ± 0.3 K (1-sigma limit). The unprecedented number of measurements provided by the M-AERI project enables us to validate the AATSR SST products on a scale that has not been possible with its two predecessors, ATSR-1 and ATSR-2. Validation results obtained between September 2002 and September 2003 are presented and indicate that, although the AATSR appears to measure slightly warm (circa + 0.14 K), the GSST product is accurate to within 0.28-0.41 K (Root Mean Square difference) in this geographical region, depending on the validation criteria used. We also present the results of further investigations into a number of validation points that do not fall within the target ± 0.3 K accuracy zone.

Application of a liquid chromatography detector to time-resolved RYDMR spectroscopy: a comparison of in situ and ex post facto measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sakaguchi, Yoshio

2001-09-01

A photodiode-array (PDA) UV-VIS detector for liquid chromatography is applied to time-resolved reaction yield detected magnetic resonance (RYDMR) measurements. The results derived from the yields of cage and escape products in the photoreaction of 2-methyl-1, 4-naphtnoquinone in a sodium dodecylsulfate micelle are found to be identical with those derived from the yield of escaping semiquinone radical detected by transient optical absorption. This implies practical linearity between the yields of escaping radicals and escape products. High sensitivity of the PDA detector enables application of escape product yields for kinetic analysis by reducing microwave-induced perturbation.

pPCV, a versatile vector for cloning PCR products.

PubMed

Janner, Christiane R; Brito, Ana Lívia P; Moraes, Lidia Maria P; Reis, Viviane Cb; Torres, Fernando Ag

2013-01-01

The efficiency of PCR product cloning depends on the nature of the DNA polymerase employed because amplicons may have blunt-ends or 3' adenosines overhangs. Therefore, for amplicon cloning, available commercial vectors are either blunt-ended or have a single 3' overhanging thymidine. The aim of this work was to offer in a single vector the ability to clone both types of PCR products. For that purpose, a minimal polylinker was designed to include restriction sites for EcoRV and XcmI which enable direct cloning of amplicons bearing blunt-ends or A-overhangs, respectively, still offering blue/white selection. When tested, the resulting vector, pPCV, presented high efficiency cloning of both types of amplicons.

Bacillus subtilis as potential producer for polyhydroxyalkanoates

PubMed Central

Singh, Mamtesh; Patel, Sanjay KS; Kalia, Vipin C

2009-01-01

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biodegradable polymers produced by microbes to overcome environmental stress. Commercial production of PHAs is limited by the high cost of production compared to conventional plastics. Another hindrance is the brittle nature and low strength of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), the most widely studied PHA. The needs are to produce PHAs, which have better elastomeric properties suitable for biomedical applications, preferably from inexpensive renewable sources to reduce cost. Certain unique properties of Bacillus subtilis such as lack of the toxic lipo-polysaccharides, expression of self-lysing genes on completion of PHA biosynthetic process – for easy and timely recovery, usage of biowastes as feed enable it to compete as potential candidate for commercial production of PHA. PMID:19619289

Bacillus subtilis as potential producer for polyhydroxyalkanoates.

PubMed

Singh, Mamtesh; Patel, Sanjay Ks; Kalia, Vipin C

2009-07-20

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biodegradable polymers produced by microbes to overcome environmental stress. Commercial production of PHAs is limited by the high cost of production compared to conventional plastics. Another hindrance is the brittle nature and low strength of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), the most widely studied PHA. The needs are to produce PHAs, which have better elastomeric properties suitable for biomedical applications, preferably from inexpensive renewable sources to reduce cost. Certain unique properties of Bacillus subtilis such as lack of the toxic lipo-polysaccharides, expression of self-lysing genes on completion of PHA biosynthetic process - for easy and timely recovery, usage of biowastes as feed enable it to compete as potential candidate for commercial production of PHA.

Practical considerations in the development of hemoglobin-based oxygen therapeutics.

PubMed

Kim, Hae Won; Estep, Timothy N

2012-09-01

The development of hemoglobin based oxygen therapeutics (HBOCs) requires consideration of a number of factors. While the enabling technology derives from fundamental research on protein biochemistry and biological interactions, translation of these research insights into usable medical therapeutics demands the application of considerable technical expertise and consideration and reconciliation of a myriad of manufacturing, medical, and regulatory requirements. The HBOC development challenge is further exacerbated by the extremely high intravenous doses required for many of the indications contemplated for these products, which in turn implies an extremely high level of purity is required. This communication discusses several of the important product configuration and developmental considerations that impact the translation of fundamental research discoveries on HBOCs into usable medical therapeutics.

Quantitative and Systems Pharmacology 3. Network-Based Identification of New Targets for Natural Products Enables Potential Uses in Aging-Associated Disorders.

PubMed

Fang, Jiansong; Gao, Li; Ma, Huili; Wu, Qihui; Wu, Tian; Wu, Jun; Wang, Qi; Cheng, Feixiong

2017-01-01

Aging that refers the accumulation of genetic and physiology changes in cells and tissues over a lifetime has been shown a high risk of developing various complex diseases, such as neurodegenerative disease, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Over the past several decades, natural products have been demonstrated as anti-aging interveners via extending lifespan and preventing aging-associated disorders. In this study, we developed an integrated systems pharmacology infrastructure to uncover new indications for aging-associated disorders by natural products. Specifically, we incorporated 411 high-quality aging-associated human genes or human-orthologous genes from mus musculus (MM), saccharomyces cerevisiae (SC), c aenorhabditis elegans (CE), and drosophila melanogaster (DM). We constructed a global drug-target network of natural products by integrating both experimental and computationally predicted drug-target interactions (DTI). We further built the statistical network models for identification of new anti-aging indications of natural products through integration of the curated aging-associated genes and drug-target network of natural products. High accuracy was achieved on the network models. We showcased several network-predicted anti-aging indications of four typical natural products (caffeic acid, metformin, myricetin, and resveratrol) with new mechanism-of-actions. In summary, this study offers a powerful systems pharmacology infrastructure to identify natural products for treatment of aging-associated disorders.

Quantitative and Systems Pharmacology 3. Network-Based Identification of New Targets for Natural Products Enables Potential Uses in Aging-Associated Disorders

PubMed Central

Fang, Jiansong; Gao, Li; Ma, Huili; Wu, Qihui; Wu, Tian; Wu, Jun; Wang, Qi; Cheng, Feixiong

2017-01-01

Aging that refers the accumulation of genetic and physiology changes in cells and tissues over a lifetime has been shown a high risk of developing various complex diseases, such as neurodegenerative disease, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Over the past several decades, natural products have been demonstrated as anti-aging interveners via extending lifespan and preventing aging-associated disorders. In this study, we developed an integrated systems pharmacology infrastructure to uncover new indications for aging-associated disorders by natural products. Specifically, we incorporated 411 high-quality aging-associated human genes or human-orthologous genes from mus musculus (MM), saccharomyces cerevisiae (SC), caenorhabditis elegans (CE), and drosophila melanogaster (DM). We constructed a global drug-target network of natural products by integrating both experimental and computationally predicted drug-target interactions (DTI). We further built the statistical network models for identification of new anti-aging indications of natural products through integration of the curated aging-associated genes and drug-target network of natural products. High accuracy was achieved on the network models. We showcased several network-predicted anti-aging indications of four typical natural products (caffeic acid, metformin, myricetin, and resveratrol) with new mechanism-of-actions. In summary, this study offers a powerful systems pharmacology infrastructure to identify natural products for treatment of aging-associated disorders. PMID:29093681

Integration process of fermentation and liquid biphasic flotation for lipase separation from Burkholderia cepacia.

PubMed

Sankaran, Revathy; Show, Pau Loke; Lee, Sze Ying; Yap, Yee Jiun; Ling, Tau Chuan

2018-02-01

Liquid Biphasic Flotation (LBF) is an advanced recovery method that has been effectively applied for biomolecules extraction. The objective of this investigation is to incorporate the fermentation and extraction process of lipase from Burkholderia cepacia using flotation system. Initial study was conducted to compare the performance of bacteria growth and lipase production using flotation and shaker system. From the results obtained, bacteria shows quicker growth and high lipase yield via flotation system. Integration process for lipase separation was investigated and the result showed high efficiency reaching 92.29% and yield of 95.73%. Upscaling of the flotation system exhibited consistent result with the lab-scale which are 89.53% efficiency and 93.82% yield. The combination of upstream and downstream processes in a single system enables the acceleration of product formation, improves the product yield and facilitates downstream processing. This integration system demonstrated its potential for biomolecules fermentation and separation that possibly open new opportunities for industrial production. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimization of a micro-scale, high throughput process development tool and the demonstration of comparable process performance and product quality with biopharmaceutical manufacturing processes.

PubMed

Evans, Steven T; Stewart, Kevin D; Afdahl, Chris; Patel, Rohan; Newell, Kelcy J

2017-07-14

In this paper, we discuss the optimization and implementation of a high throughput process development (HTPD) tool that utilizes commercially available micro-liter sized column technology for the purification of multiple clinically significant monoclonal antibodies. Chromatographic profiles generated using this optimized tool are shown to overlay with comparable profiles from the conventional bench-scale and clinical manufacturing scale. Further, all product quality attributes measured are comparable across scales for the mAb purifications. In addition to supporting chromatography process development efforts (e.g., optimization screening), comparable product quality results at all scales makes this tool is an appropriate scale model to enable purification and product quality comparisons of HTPD bioreactors conditions. The ability to perform up to 8 chromatography purifications in parallel with reduced material requirements per run creates opportunities for gathering more process knowledge in less time. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Pumping liquid metal at high temperatures up to 1,673 kelvin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amy, C.; Budenstein, D.; Bagepalli, M.; England, D.; Deangelis, F.; Wilk, G.; Jarrett, C.; Kelsall, C.; Hirschey, J.; Wen, H.; Chavan, A.; Gilleland, B.; Yuan, C.; Chueh, W. C.; Sandhage, K. H.; Kawajiri, Y.; Henry, A.

2017-10-01

Heat is fundamental to power generation and many industrial processes, and is most useful at high temperatures because it can be converted more efficiently to other types of energy. However, efficient transportation, storage and conversion of heat at extreme temperatures (more than about 1,300 kelvin) is impractical for many applications. Liquid metals can be very effective media for transferring heat at high temperatures, but liquid-metal pumping has been limited by the corrosion of metal infrastructures. Here we demonstrate a ceramic, mechanical pump that can be used to continuously circulate liquid tin at temperatures of around 1,473-1,673 kelvin. Our approach to liquid-metal pumping is enabled by the use of ceramics for the mechanical and sealing components, but owing to the brittle nature of ceramics their use requires careful engineering. Our set-up enables effective heat transfer using a liquid at previously unattainable temperatures, and could be used for thermal storage and transport, electric power production, and chemical or materials processing.

Lithography Assisted Fiber-Drawing Nanomanufacturing

PubMed Central

Gholipour, Behrad; Bastock, Paul; Cui, Long; Craig, Christopher; Khan, Khouler; Hewak, Daniel W.; Soci, Cesare

2016-01-01

We present a high-throughput and scalable technique for the production of metal nanowires embedded in glass fibres by taking advantage of thin film properties and patterning techniques commonly used in planar microfabrication. This hybrid process enables the fabrication of single nanowires and nanowire arrays encased in a preform material within a single fibre draw, providing an alternative to costly and time-consuming iterative fibre drawing. This method allows the combination of materials with different thermal properties to create functional optoelectronic nanostructures. As a proof of principle of the potential of this technique, centimetre long gold nanowires (bulk Tm = 1064 °C) embedded in silicate glass fibres (Tg = 567 °C) were drawn in a single step with high aspect ratios (>104); such nanowires can be released from the glass matrix and show relatively high electrical conductivity. Overall, this fabrication method could enable mass manufacturing of metallic nanowires for plasmonics and nonlinear optics applications, as well as the integration of functional multimaterial structures for completely fiberised optoelectronic devices. PMID:27739543

Versatile plasma ion source with an internal evaporator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turek, M.; Prucnal, S.; Drozdziel, A.; Pyszniak, K.

2011-04-01

A novel construction of an ion source with an evaporator placed inside a plasma chamber is presented. The crucible is heated to high temperatures directly by arc discharge, which makes the ion source suitable for substances with high melting points. The compact ion source enables production of intense ion beams for wide spectrum of solid elements with typical separated beam currents of ˜100-150 μA for Al +, Mn +, As + (which corresponds to emission current densities of 15-25 mA/cm 2) for the extraction voltage of 25 kV. The ion source works for approximately 50-70 h at 100% duty cycle, which enables high ion dose implantation. The typical power consumption of the ion source is 350-400 W. The paper presents detailed experimental data (e.g. dependences of ion currents and anode voltages on discharge and filament currents and magnetic flux densities) for Cr, Fe, Al, As, Mn and In. The discussion is supported by results of Monte Carlo method based numerical simulation of ionisation in the ion source.

Lithography Assisted Fiber-Drawing Nanomanufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gholipour, Behrad; Bastock, Paul; Cui, Long; Craig, Christopher; Khan, Khouler; Hewak, Daniel W.; Soci, Cesare

2016-10-01

We present a high-throughput and scalable technique for the production of metal nanowires embedded in glass fibres by taking advantage of thin film properties and patterning techniques commonly used in planar microfabrication. This hybrid process enables the fabrication of single nanowires and nanowire arrays encased in a preform material within a single fibre draw, providing an alternative to costly and time-consuming iterative fibre drawing. This method allows the combination of materials with different thermal properties to create functional optoelectronic nanostructures. As a proof of principle of the potential of this technique, centimetre long gold nanowires (bulk Tm = 1064 °C) embedded in silicate glass fibres (Tg = 567 °C) were drawn in a single step with high aspect ratios (>104) such nanowires can be released from the glass matrix and show relatively high electrical conductivity. Overall, this fabrication method could enable mass manufacturing of metallic nanowires for plasmonics and nonlinear optics applications, as well as the integration of functional multimaterial structures for completely fiberised optoelectronic devices.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tan, Eric; Talmadge, M.; Dutta, Abhijit

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) promotes research for enabling cost-competitive liquid fuels production from lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks. The research is geared to advance the state of technology (SOT) of biomass feedstock supply and logistics, conversion, and overall system sustainability. As part of their involvement in this program, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) investigate the economics of conversion pathways through the development of conceptual biorefinery process models. This report describes in detail one potential conversion process for the production of high octane gasoline blendstock via indirect liquefaction (IDL). The steps involve themore » conversion of biomass to syngas via indirect gasification followed by gas cleanup and catalytic syngas conversion to a methanol intermediate; methanol is then further catalytically converted to high octane hydrocarbons. The conversion process model leverages technologies previously advanced by research funded by the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and demonstrated in 2012 with the production of mixed alcohols from biomass. Biomass-derived syngas cleanup via tar and hydrocarbons reforming was one of the key technology advancements as part of that research. The process described in this report evaluates a new technology area with downstream utilization of clean biomass-syngas for the production of high octane hydrocarbon products through a methanol intermediate, i.e., dehydration of methanol to dimethyl ether (DME) which subsequently undergoes homologation to high octane hydrocarbon products.« less

Direct, enantioselective α-alkylation of aldehydes using simple olefins.

PubMed

Capacci, Andrew G; Malinowski, Justin T; McAlpine, Neil J; Kuhne, Jerome; MacMillan, David W C

2017-11-01

Although the α-alkylation of ketones has already been established, the analogous reaction using aldehyde substrates has proven surprisingly elusive. Despite the structural similarities between the two classes of compounds, the sensitivity and unique reactivity of the aldehyde functionality has typically required activated substrates or specialized additives. Here, we show that the synergistic merger of three catalytic processes-photoredox, enamine and hydrogen-atom transfer (HAT) catalysis-enables an enantioselective α-aldehyde alkylation reaction that employs simple olefins as coupling partners. Chiral imidazolidinones or prolinols, in combination with a thiophenol, iridium photoredox catalyst and visible light, have been successfully used in a triple catalytic process that is temporally sequenced to deliver a new hydrogen and electron-borrowing mechanism. This multicatalytic process enables both intra- and intermolecular aldehyde α-methylene coupling with olefins to construct both cyclic and acyclic products, respectively. With respect to atom and step-economy ideals, this stereoselective process allows the production of high-value molecules from feedstock chemicals in one step while consuming only photons.

Benefits of jasmonate-dependent defenses against vertebrate herbivores in nature

PubMed Central

Machado, Ricardo AR; McClure, Mark; Hervé, Maxime R; Baldwin, Ian T; Erb, Matthias

2016-01-01

Endogenous jasmonates are important regulators of plant defenses. If and how they enable plants to maintain their reproductive output when facing community-level herbivory under natural conditions, however, remains unknown. We demonstrate that jasmonate-deficient Nicotiana attenuata plants suffer more damage by arthropod and vertebrate herbivores than jasmonate-producing plants in nature. However, only damage by vertebrate herbivores translates into a significant reduction in flower production. Vertebrate stem peeling has the strongest negative impact on plant flower production. Stems are defended by jasmonate-dependent nicotine, and the native cottontail rabbit Sylvilagus nuttallii avoids jasmonate-producing N. attenuata shoots because of their high levels of nicotine. Thus, endogenous jasmonates enable plants to resist different types of herbivores in nature, and jasmonate-dependent defenses are important for plants to maintain their reproductive potential when facing vertebrate herbivory. Ecological and evolutionary models on plant defense signaling should aim at integrating arthropod and vertebrate herbivory at the community level. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.13720.001 PMID:27352734

Direct, enantioselective α-alkylation of aldehydes using simple olefins

PubMed Central

Capacci, Andrew G.; Malinowski, Justin T.; McAlpine, Neil J.; Kuhne, Jerome; MacMillan, David W. C.

2017-01-01

Although the α-alkylation of ketones has already been established, the analogous reaction using aldehyde substrates has proven surprisingly elusive. Despite the structural similarities between the two classes of compounds, the sensitivity and unique reactivity of the aldehyde functionality has typically required activated substrates or specialized additives. Here, we show that the synergistic merger of three catalytic processes—photoredox, enamine and hydrogen-atom transfer (HAT) catalysis—enables an enantioselective α-aldehyde alkylation reaction that employs simple olefins as coupling partners. Chiral imidazolidinones or prolinols, in combination with a thiophenol, iridium photoredox catalyst and visible light, have been successfully used in a triple catalytic process that is temporally sequenced to deliver a new hydrogen and electron-borrowing mechanism. This multicatalytic process enables both intra- and intermolecular aldehyde α-methylene coupling with olefins to construct both cyclic and acyclic products, respectively. With respect to atom and step-economy ideals, this stereoselective process allows the production of high-value molecules from feedstock chemicals in one step while consuming only photons. PMID:29064486

Direct, enantioselective α-alkylation of aldehydes using simple olefins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Capacci, Andrew G.; Malinowski, Justin T.; McAlpine, Neil J.; Kuhne, Jerome; MacMillan, David W. C.

2017-11-01

Although the α-alkylation of ketones has already been established, the analogous reaction using aldehyde substrates has proven surprisingly elusive. Despite the structural similarities between the two classes of compounds, the sensitivity and unique reactivity of the aldehyde functionality has typically required activated substrates or specialized additives. Here, we show that the synergistic merger of three catalytic processes—photoredox, enamine and hydrogen-atom transfer (HAT) catalysis—enables an enantioselective α-aldehyde alkylation reaction that employs simple olefins as coupling partners. Chiral imidazolidinones or prolinols, in combination with a thiophenol, iridium photoredox catalyst and visible light, have been successfully used in a triple catalytic process that is temporally sequenced to deliver a new hydrogen and electron-borrowing mechanism. This multicatalytic process enables both intra- and intermolecular aldehyde α-methylene coupling with olefins to construct both cyclic and acyclic products, respectively. With respect to atom and step-economy ideals, this stereoselective process allows the production of high-value molecules from feedstock chemicals in one step while consuming only photons.

Molecular basis of autotrophic vs mixotrophic growth in Chlorella sorokiniana.

PubMed

Cecchin, M; Benfatto, S; Griggio, F; Mori, A; Cazzaniga, S; Vitulo, N; Delledonne, M; Ballottari, M

2018-04-24

In this work, we investigated the molecular basis of autotrophic vs. mixotrophic growth of Chlorella sorokiniana, one of the most productive microalgae species with high potential to produce biofuels, food and high value compounds. To increase biomass accumulation, photosynthetic microalgae are commonly cultivated in mixotrophic conditions, adding reduced carbon sources to the growth media. In the case of C. sorokiniana, the presence of acetate enhanced biomass, proteins, lipids and starch productivity when compared to autotrophic conditions. Despite decreased chlorophyll content, photosynthetic properties were essentially unaffected while differential gene expression profile revealed transcriptional regulation of several genes mainly involved in control of carbon flux. Interestingly, acetate assimilation caused upregulation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase enzyme, enabling potential recovery of carbon atoms lost by acetate oxidation. The obtained results allowed to associate the increased productivity observed in mixotrophy in C. sorokiniana with a different gene regulation leading to a fine regulation of cell metabolism.

Enabling the Tablet Product Development of 5-Fluorocytosine by Conjugate Acid Base Cocrystals.

PubMed

Perumalla, Sathyanarayana R; Paul, Shubhajit; Sun, Changquan C

2016-06-01

5-Fluorocytosine (FC) is a high-dose antifungal drug that challenges the development of a tablet product due to poor solid-state stability and tabletability. Using 2 pharmaceutically acceptable conjugate acid base (CAB) cocrystals of FC with HCl and acesulfame, we have developed commercially viable high loading FC tablets. The tablets were prepared by direct compression using nano-coated microcrystalline cellulose Avicel PH105 as a tablet binder, which provided both excellent tabletability and good flowability. Commercial manufacturability of formulations based on both CAB cocrystals was verified on a compaction simulator. The results from an expedited friability study were used to set the compaction force, which yielded tablets with sufficient mechanical strength and rapid tablet disintegration. This work demonstrates the potential value of CAB cocrystals in drug product development. Copyright © 2016 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Protein Chimera Strategy Supports Production of a Model "Difficult-to-Express" Recombinant Target.

PubMed

Hussain, Hirra; Fisher, David I; Roth, Robert G; Abbott, W Mark; Carballo-Amador, Manuel Alejandro; Warwicker, Jim; Dickson, Alan J

2018-06-22

Due in part to the needs of the biopharmaceutical industry, there has been an increased drive to generate high quality recombinant proteins in large amounts. However, achieving high yields can be a challenge as the novelty and increased complexity of new targets often makes them 'difficult-to-express'. This study aimed to define the molecular features that restrict the production of a model 'difficult-to-express' recombinant protein, Tissue Inhibitor Metalloproteinase-3 (TIMP-3). Building from experimental data, computational approaches were used to rationalise the re-design of this recombinant target to generate a chimera with enhanced secretion. The results highlight the importance of early identification of unfavourable sequence attributes, enabling the generation of engineered protein forms that bypass 'secretory' bottlenecks and result in efficient recombinant protein production. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Application of Open Source Technologies for Oceanographic Data Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, T.; Gangl, M.; Quach, N. T.; Wilson, B. D.; Chang, G.; Armstrong, E. M.; Chin, T. M.; Greguska, F.

2015-12-01

NEXUS is a data-intensive analysis solution developed with a new approach for handling science data that enables large-scale data analysis by leveraging open source technologies such as Apache Cassandra, Apache Spark, Apache Solr, and Webification. NEXUS has been selected to provide on-the-fly time-series and histogram generation for the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission for Level 2 and Level 3 Active, Passive, and Active Passive products. It also provides an on-the-fly data subsetting capability. NEXUS is designed to scale horizontally, enabling it to handle massive amounts of data in parallel. It takes a new approach on managing time and geo-referenced array data by dividing data artifacts into chunks and stores them in an industry-standard, horizontally scaled NoSQL database. This approach enables the development of scalable data analysis services that can infuse and leverage the elastic computing infrastructure of the Cloud. It is equipped with a high-performance geospatial and indexed data search solution, coupled with a high-performance data Webification solution free from file I/O bottlenecks, as well as a high-performance, in-memory data analysis engine. In this talk, we will focus on the recently funded AIST 2014 project by using NEXUS as the core for oceanographic anomaly detection service and web portal. We call it, OceanXtremes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wu, Chung-Yeh; Wolf, William J.; Levartovsky, Yehonatan

We report the critical role in surface reactions and heterogeneous catalysis of metal atoms with low coordination numbers, such as found at atomic steps and surface defects, is firmly established. But despite the growing availability of tools that enable detailed in situ characterization, so far it has not been possible to document this role directly. Surface properties can be mapped with high spatial resolution, and catalytic conversion can be tracked with a clear chemical signature; however, the combination of the two, which would enable high-spatial-resolution detection of reactions on catalytic surfaces, has rarely been achieved. Single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy has beenmore » used to image and characterize single turnover sites at catalytic surfaces, but is restricted to reactions that generate highly fluorescing product molecules. Herein the chemical conversion of N-heterocyclic carbene molecules attached to catalytic particles is mapped using synchrotron-radiation-based infrared nanospectroscopy with a spatial resolution of 25 nanometres, which enabled particle regions that differ in reactivity to be distinguished. Lastly, these observations demonstrate that, compared to the flat regions on top of the particles, the peripheries of the particles-which contain metal atoms with low coordination numbers-are more active in catalysing oxidation and reduction of chemically active groups in surface-anchored N-heterocyclic carbene molecules.« less

Methods to increase the rate of mass transfer during osmotic dehydration of foods.

PubMed

Chwastek, Anna

2014-01-01

Traditional methods of food preservation such as freezing, freeze drying (lyophilization), vacuum drying, convection drying are often supplemented by new technologies that enable obtaining of high quality products. Osmotic dehydration is more and more often used during processing of fruits and vegetables. This method allows maintaining good organoleptic and functional properties in the finished product. Obtaining the desired degree of dehydration or saturation of the material with an osmoactive substance often requires  elongation of time or use of high temperatures. In recent years much attention was devoted to techniques aimed at increasing the mass transfer between the dehydrated material and the hypertonic solution. The work reviews the literature focused on methods of streamlining the process of osmotic dehydration which include the use of: ultrasound, high hydrostatic pressure, vacuum osmotic dehydration and pulsed electric field.

Design of high productivity antibody capture by protein A chromatography using an integrated experimental and modeling approach.

PubMed

Ng, Candy K S; Osuna-Sanchez, Hector; Valéry, Eric; Sørensen, Eva; Bracewell, Daniel G

2012-06-15

An integrated experimental and modeling approach for the design of high productivity protein A chromatography is presented to maximize productivity in bioproduct manufacture. The approach consists of four steps: (1) small-scale experimentation, (2) model parameter estimation, (3) productivity optimization and (4) model validation with process verification. The integrated use of process experimentation and modeling enables fewer experiments to be performed, and thus minimizes the time and materials required in order to gain process understanding, which is of key importance during process development. The application of the approach is demonstrated for the capture of antibody by a novel silica-based high performance protein A adsorbent named AbSolute. In the example, a series of pulse injections and breakthrough experiments were performed to develop a lumped parameter model, which was then used to find the best design that optimizes the productivity of a batch protein A chromatographic process for human IgG capture. An optimum productivity of 2.9 kg L⁻¹ day⁻¹ for a column of 5mm diameter and 8.5 cm length was predicted, and subsequently verified experimentally, completing the whole process design approach in only 75 person-hours (or approximately 2 weeks). Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Synergistic use of MODIS cloud products and AIRS radiance measurements for retrieval of cloud parameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, J.; Menzel, W.; Sun, F.; Schmit, T.

2003-12-01

The Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) measurements from the Earth Observing System's (EOS) Aqua satellite will enable global monitoring of the distribution of clouds. MODIS is able to provide at high spatial resolution (1 ~ 5km) the cloud mask, surface and cloud types, cloud phase, cloud-top pressure (CTP), effective cloud amount (ECA), cloud particle size (CPS), and cloud water path (CWP). AIRS is able to provide CTP, ECA, CPS, and CWP within the AIRS footprint with much better accuracy using its greatly enhanced hyperspectral remote sensing capability. The combined MODIS / AIRS system offers the opportunity for cloud products improved over those possible from either system alone. The algorithm developed was applied to process the AIRS longwave cloudy radiance measurements; results are compared with MODIS cloud products, as well as with the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) sounder cloud products, to demonstrate the advantage of synergistic use of high spatial resolution MODIS cloud products and high spectral resolution AIRS sounder radiance measurements for optimal cloud retrieval. Data from ground-based instrumentation at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program Cloud and Radiation Test Bed (CART) in Oklahoma were used for the validation; results show that AIRS improves the MODIS cloud products in certain cases such as low-level clouds.

Clothing Production. Student Learning Guides.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ridge Vocational-Technical Center, Winter Haven, FL.

These 59 learning guides are self-instructional packets for 59 tasks identified as essential for performance on an entry-level job in clothing production. Each guide is based on a terminal performance objective (task) and 2-5 enabling objectives. For each enabling objective, some or all of these materials may be presented: learning steps (outline…

The integration of quality function deployment and Kansei Engineering: An overview of application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lokman, Anitawati Mohd; Awang, Ahmad Azran; Omar, Abdul Rahman; Abdullah, Nur Atiqah Sia

2016-02-01

As a result of today's globalized world and robust development of emerging markets, consumers are able to select from an endless number of products that are mostly similar in terms of design and properties, as well as equivalent in function and performance. The survival of businesses in a competitive ambience requires innovation, consumer loyalty, and products that are easily identifiable by consumers. Today's manufacturers have started to employ customer research instruments to survive in the highly industrialized world—for example, Conjoint Analysis, Design of Experiments and Semantic Design of Environment. However, this work only attempts to concentrate on Kansei Engineering and Quality Function Deployment. Kansei Engineering (KE) is deemed as the most appropriate method to link consumers' feelings, emotions or senses to the properties of a product because it translates people's impressions, interests, and feelings to the solutions of product design. Likewise, Quality Function Deployment (QFD) enables clearer interpretation of the needs of consumers, better concepts or products, and enhanced communication to internal operations that must then manufacture and deliver the product or services. The integration of both KE and QFD is believed possible, as many product manufacturers and businesses have started to utilize systematized methods to translate consumers' needs and wants into processes and products. Therefore, this work addresses areas of various integrations of KE and QFD processes in the industry, in an effort to assist an integration of KE and QFD. This work aims to provide evidence on the integration mechanism to enable successful incorporation of consumer's implicit feelings and demands into product quality improvement, and simultaneously providing an overview of both KE and QFD from the perspective of a novice.

Feedstock and Conversion Supply System Design and Analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jacobson, J.; Mohammad, R.; Cafferty, K.

The success of the earlier logistic pathway designs (Biochemical and Thermochemical) from a feedstock perspective was that it demonstrated that through proper equipment selection and best management practices, conventional supply systems (referred to in this report as “conventional designs,” or specifically the 2012 Conventional Design) can be successfully implemented to address dry matter loss, quality issues, and enable feedstock cost reductions that help to reduce feedstock risk of variable supply and quality and enable industry to commercialize biomass feedstock supply chains. The caveat of this success is that conventional designs depend on high density, low-cost biomass with no disruption frommore » incremental weather. In this respect, the success of conventional designs is tied to specific, highly productive regions such as the southeastern U.S. which has traditionally supported numerous pulp and paper industries or the Midwest U.S for corn stover.« less

Remotely Controlled Mixers for Light Microscopy Module (LMM) Colloid Samples

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kurk, Michael A. (Andy)

2015-01-01

Developed by NASA Glenn Research Center, the LMM aboard the International Space Station (ISS) is enabling multiple biomedical science experiments. Techshot, Inc., has developed a series of colloid specialty cell systems (C-SPECS) for use in the colloid science experiment module on the LMM. These low-volume mixing devices will enable uniform particle density and remotely controlled repetition of LMM colloid experiments. By automating the experiment process, C-SPECS allow colloid samples to be processed more quickly. In addition, C-SPECS will minimize the time the crew will need to spend on colloid experiments as well as eliminate the need for multiple and costly colloid samples, which are expended after a single examination. This high-throughput capability will lead to more efficient and productive use of the LMM. As commercial launch vehicles begin routine visits to the ISS, C-SPECS could become a significant means to process larger quantities of high-value materials for commercial customers.

The folly of using RCCs and RVUs for intermediate product costing.

PubMed

Young, David W

2007-04-01

Two measures for computing the cost of intermediate projects--a ratio of cost to charges and relative value units--are highly flawed and can have serious financial implications for the hospitals that use them. Full-cost accounting, using the principles of activity-based costing, enables hospitals to measure their costs more accurately, both for competitive bidding purposes and to manage them more effectively.

Hydrogen Transport to Mars Enables the Sabatier/Electrolysis Process

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mueller, P. J.; Rapp, D.

1997-01-01

The Sabatier/Electrolysis (S/E) process is an attractive approach to in situ propellant production (ISPP), and a breadboard demonstration of this process at Lockheed Martin Astronautics funded by JPL performed very well, with high conversion efficiency, and reliable diurnal operation. There is a net usage of hydrogen in the S/E process, and this has been the principal problem for this approach to ISPP.

The Experiences of Female High School Students and Interest in STEM: Factors Leading to the Selection of an Engineering or Computer Science Major

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Genoways, Sharon K.

2017-01-01

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education creates critical thinkers, increases science literacy, and enables the next generation of innovators, which leads to new products and processes that sustain our economy (Hossain & Robinson, 2012). We have been hearing the warnings for several years, that there simply are not enough…

Liquefaction and Storage of In-Situ Oxygen on the Surface of Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hauser, Daniel M.; Johnson, Wesley L.; Sutherlin, Steven G.

2016-01-01

ISRU is currently base-lined for the production of oxygen on the Martian surface in the Evolvable Mars Campaign Over 50 of return vehicle mass is oxygen for propulsion. There are two key cryogenic fluid-thermal technologies that need to be investigated to enable these architectures. High lift refrigeration systems. Thermal Insulation systems, either lightweight vacuum jackets of soft vacuum insulation systems.

Proceedings on Combating the Unrestricted Warfare Threat: Integrating Strategy, Analysis, and Technology, 20-21 March 2007

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-01

Prosthetics to enable return to units without loss of capability Quantum...and will give us a big advantage in terms of unrestricted warfare. Figure 17 high-Productivity Computing System PRoSThETICS We have an exciting...program in prosthetics (Figure 18). It started with a monkey at Duke University. We put microelectronic implants into her brain, taught her

In situ permafrost thaw due to climate change drives holistic microbial community shifts with implications for methane cycling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mondav, Rhiannon; McCalley, Carmody; Hodgkins, Suzanne; Rich, Virginia; Frolking, Steve; Saleska, Scott; Barnes, Andrew; Chanton, Jeff; Crill, Patrick

2014-05-01

Thawing permafrost is a potentially significant source of radiative forcing feedback due to increased emissions of methane, a biogenic greenhouse gas (GHG). This study investigated changes in the microbial community along a permafrost thaw gradient at Stordalen Mire, Sweden using 16S rRNA gene amplicon and metagenomic methods. In situ measurements of geochemical parameters, including CH4 and C isotopes, enabled linkage of community dynamics to significant shifts in C balance. The thaw gradient ranged from intact at a palsa (low productivity and GHG emissions), through partially thawed in a bog (high productivity, low GHG emissions) to a completely thawed fen (high productivity and GHG emissions). Microbial assemblages in both the palsa and fen were highly diverse (in both richness and evenness), consistent with climax communities. The microbial community in the bog had distinctly lower diversity, characteristic of ecosystem disturbance. The palsa community was dominated by Acidobacteria and Proteobacteria, as is typical of a range of soils including permafrost. Methanogens dominated both the bog and fen and were most abundant within the zone of water table fluctuation. Inferring methanogens' production pathway from phylogeny showed a shift from mostly hydrogenotrophic methanogens in the bog towards acetotrophic methanogens in the fen. This corroborated porewater and flux emitted CH4 and CO2 carbon isotopic 13C signatures of CH4 and CO2. The fen, where the highest CH4 flux was recorded, was significantly richer in methanogenic archaea. A novel archaea, Candidatus Methanoflorens stordalenmirensis, was present at up to 70% relative abundance in the bog, enabling recovery of a population genome. The genome (and associated metaproteome) of 'M. stordalenmirensis' indicates that hydrogenotrophic methane production is its main energy conservation pathway. 'Methanoflorens' may be an indicator species of permafrost thaw, it is globally ubiquitous, and appears a major contributor to global methane production. Our results revealed a distinct difference in the microbial community structure and membership at each site, which can be directly associated with increasing methane emission and thaw state.

Chemo-selective high yield microwave assisted reaction turns cellulose to green chemicals.

PubMed

Hassanzadeh, Salman; Aminlashgari, Nina; Hakkarainen, Minna

2014-11-04

Exceptionally high cellulose liquefaction yields, up to 87% as calculated from the amount of solid residue, were obtained under mild conditions by utilizing the synergistic effect of microwave radiation and acid catalysis. The effect of processing conditions on degradation products was fingerprinted by rapid laser desorption ionization-mass spectrometry (LDI-MS) method. The reaction was chemo-tunable, enabling production of glucose (Glc) or levulinic acid (LeA) at significantly high selectivity and yields, the relative molar yields being up to 50 and 69%, respectively. A turning point from pure depolymerization to glucose to further degradation to levulinic acid and formic acid was observed at approximately 50% liquefaction or above 140 °C. This was accompanied by the formation of small amounts of solid spherical carbonized residues. The reaction was monitored by multiple analytical techniques. The high yields were connected to the ability of the process to break the strong secondary interactions in cellulose. The developed method has great potential for future production of green platform chemicals. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automation of a Nile red staining assay enables high throughput quantification of microalgal lipid production.

PubMed

Morschett, Holger; Wiechert, Wolfgang; Oldiges, Marco

2016-02-09

Within the context of microalgal lipid production for biofuels and bulk chemical applications, specialized higher throughput devices for small scale parallelized cultivation are expected to boost the time efficiency of phototrophic bioprocess development. However, the increasing number of possible experiments is directly coupled to the demand for lipid quantification protocols that enable reliably measuring large sets of samples within short time and that can deal with the reduced sample volume typically generated at screening scale. To meet these demands, a dye based assay was established using a liquid handling robot to provide reproducible high throughput quantification of lipids with minimized hands-on-time. Lipid production was monitored using the fluorescent dye Nile red with dimethyl sulfoxide as solvent facilitating dye permeation. The staining kinetics of cells at different concentrations and physiological states were investigated to successfully down-scale the assay to 96 well microtiter plates. Gravimetric calibration against a well-established extractive protocol enabled absolute quantification of intracellular lipids improving precision from ±8 to ±2 % on average. Implementation into an automated liquid handling platform allows for measuring up to 48 samples within 6.5 h, reducing hands-on-time to a third compared to manual operation. Moreover, it was shown that automation enhances accuracy and precision compared to manual preparation. It was revealed that established protocols relying on optical density or cell number for biomass adjustion prior to staining may suffer from errors due to significant changes of the cells' optical and physiological properties during cultivation. Alternatively, the biovolume was used as a measure for biomass concentration so that errors from morphological changes can be excluded. The newly established assay proved to be applicable for absolute quantification of algal lipids avoiding limitations of currently established protocols, namely biomass adjustment and limited throughput. Automation was shown to improve data reliability, as well as experimental throughput simultaneously minimizing the needed hands-on-time to a third. Thereby, the presented protocol meets the demands for the analysis of samples generated by the upcoming generation of devices for higher throughput phototrophic cultivation and thereby contributes to boosting the time efficiency for setting up algae lipid production processes.

Thiol trapping and metabolic redistribution of sulfur metabolites enable cells to overcome cysteine overload

PubMed Central

Deshpande, Anup Arunrao; Bhatia, Muskan; Laxman, Sunil; Bachhawat, Anand Kumar

2017-01-01

Cysteine is an essential requirement in living organisms. However, due to its reactive thiol side chain, elevated levels of intracellular cysteine can be toxic and therefore need to be rapidly eliminated from the cellular milieu. In mammals and many other organisms, excess cysteine is believed to be primarily eliminated by the cysteine dioxygenase dependent oxidative degradation of cysteine, followed by the removal of the oxidative products. However, other mechanisms of tackling excess cysteine are also likely to exist, but have not thus far been explored. In this study, we use Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which naturally lacks a cysteine dioxygenase, to investigate mechanisms for tackling cysteine overload. Overexpressing the high affinity cysteine transporter, YCT1, enabled yeast cells to rapidly accumulate high levels of intracellular cysteine. Using targeted metabolite analysis, we observe that cysteine is initially rapidly interconverted to non-reactive cystine in vivo. A time course revealed that cells systematically convert excess cysteine to inert thiol forms; initially to cystine, and subsequently to cystathionine, S-Adenosyl-L-homocysteine (SAH) and S-Adenosyl L-methionine (SAM), in addition to eventually accumulating glutathione (GSH) and polyamines. Microarray based gene expression studies revealed the upregulation of arginine/ornithine biosynthesis a few hours after the cysteine overload, and suggest that the non-toxic, non-reactive thiol based metabolic products are eventually utilized for amino acid and polyamine biogenesis, thereby enabling cell growth. Thus, cells can handle potentially toxic amounts of cysteine by a combination of thiol trapping, metabolic redistribution to non-reactive thiols and subsequent consumption for anabolism. PMID:28435838

Controlling high-throughput manufacturing at the nano-scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cooper, Khershed P.

2013-09-01

Interest in nano-scale manufacturing research and development is growing. The reason is to accelerate the translation of discoveries and inventions of nanoscience and nanotechnology into products that would benefit industry, economy and society. Ongoing research in nanomanufacturing is focused primarily on developing novel nanofabrication techniques for a variety of applications—materials, energy, electronics, photonics, biomedical, etc. Our goal is to foster the development of high-throughput methods of fabricating nano-enabled products. Large-area parallel processing and highspeed continuous processing are high-throughput means for mass production. An example of large-area processing is step-and-repeat nanoimprinting, by which nanostructures are reproduced again and again over a large area, such as a 12 in wafer. Roll-to-roll processing is an example of continuous processing, by which it is possible to print and imprint multi-level nanostructures and nanodevices on a moving flexible substrate. The big pay-off is high-volume production and low unit cost. However, the anticipated cost benefits can only be realized if the increased production rate is accompanied by high yields of high quality products. To ensure product quality, we need to design and construct manufacturing systems such that the processes can be closely monitored and controlled. One approach is to bring cyber-physical systems (CPS) concepts to nanomanufacturing. CPS involves the control of a physical system such as manufacturing through modeling, computation, communication and control. Such a closely coupled system will involve in-situ metrology and closed-loop control of the physical processes guided by physics-based models and driven by appropriate instrumentation, sensing and actuation. This paper will discuss these ideas in the context of controlling high-throughput manufacturing at the nano-scale.

Chemoselective Aliphatic C–H Bond Oxidation Enabled by Polarity Reversal

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Methods for selective oxidation of aliphatic C–H bonds are called on to revolutionize organic synthesis by providing novel and more efficient paths. Realization of this goal requires the discovery of mechanisms that can alter in a predictable manner the innate reactivity of these bonds. Ideally, these mechanisms need to make oxidation of aliphatic C–H bonds, which are recognized as relatively inert, compatible with the presence of electron rich functional groups that are highly susceptible to oxidation. Furthermore, predictable modification of the relative reactivity of different C–H bonds within a molecule would enable rapid diversification of the resulting oxidation products. Herein we show that by engaging in hydrogen bonding, fluorinated alcohols exert a polarity reversal on electron rich functional groups, directing iron and manganese catalyzed oxidation toward a priori stronger and unactivated C–H bonds. As a result, selective hydroxylation of methylenic sites in hydrocarbons and remote aliphatic C–H oxidation of otherwise sensitive alcohol, ether, amide, and amine substrates is achieved employing aqueous hydrogen peroxide as oxidant. Oxidations occur in a predictable manner, with outstanding levels of product chemoselectivity, preserving the first-formed hydroxylation product, thus representing an extremely valuable tool for synthetic planning and development. PMID:29296677

Immersion and dry scanner extensions for sub-10nm production nodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weichselbaum, Stefan; Bornebroek, Frank; de Kort, Toine; Droste, Richard; de Graaf, Roelof F.; van Ballegoij, Rob; Botter, Herman; McLaren, Matthew G.; de Boeij, Wim P.

2015-03-01

Progressing towards the 10nm and 7nm imaging node, pattern-placement and layer-to-layer overlay requirements keep on scaling down and drives system improvements in immersion (ArFi) and dry (ArF/KrF) scanners. A series of module enhancements in the NXT platform have been introduced; among others, the scanner is equipped with exposure stages with better dynamics and thermal control. Grid accuracy improvements with respect to calibration, setup, stability, and layout dependency tighten MMO performance and enable mix and match scanner operation. The same platform improvements also benefit focus control. Improvements in detectability and reproducibility of low contrast alignment marks enhance the alignment solution window for 10nm logic processes and beyond. The system's architecture allows dynamic use of high-order scanner optimization based on advanced actuators of projection lens and scanning stages. This enables a holistic optimization approach for the scanner, the mask, and the patterning process. Productivity scanner design modifications esp. stage speeds and optimization in metrology schemes provide lower layer costs for customers using immersion lithography as well as conventional dry technology. Imaging, overlay, focus, and productivity data is presented, that demonstrates 10nm and 7nm node litho-capability for both (immersion & dry) platforms.

Simplified and robust one-step radiosynthesis of [18 F]DCFPyL via direct radiofluorination and cartridge-based purification.

PubMed

Dornan, Mark H; Simard, José-Mathieu; Leblond, Antoine; Juneau, Daniel; Delouya, Guila; Saad, Fred; Ménard, Cynthia; DaSilva, Jean N

2018-05-02

[ 18 F]DCFPyL is a clinical-stage PET radiotracer used to image prostate cancer. This report details the efficient production of [ 18 F]DCFPyL using single-step direct radiofluorination, without the use of carboxylic acid-protecting groups. Radiolabeling reaction optimization studies revealed an inverse correlation between the amount of precursor used and the radiochemical yield. This simplified approach enabled automated preparation of [ 18 F]DCFPyL within 28 minutes using HPLC purification (26% ± 6%, at EOS, n = 4), which was then scaled up for large-batch production to generate 1.46 ± 0.23 Ci of [ 18 F]DCFPyL at EOS (n = 7) in high molar activity (37 933 ± 4158 mCi/μmol, 1403 ± 153 GBq/μmol, at EOS, n = 7). Further, this work enabled the development of [ 18 F]DCFPyL production in 21 minutes using an easy cartridge-based purification (25% ± 9% radiochemical yield, at EOS, n = 3). Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Chemoselective Aliphatic C-H Bond Oxidation Enabled by Polarity Reversal.

PubMed

Dantignana, Valeria; Milan, Michela; Cussó, Olaf; Company, Anna; Bietti, Massimo; Costas, Miquel

2017-12-27

Methods for selective oxidation of aliphatic C-H bonds are called on to revolutionize organic synthesis by providing novel and more efficient paths. Realization of this goal requires the discovery of mechanisms that can alter in a predictable manner the innate reactivity of these bonds. Ideally, these mechanisms need to make oxidation of aliphatic C-H bonds, which are recognized as relatively inert, compatible with the presence of electron rich functional groups that are highly susceptible to oxidation. Furthermore, predictable modification of the relative reactivity of different C-H bonds within a molecule would enable rapid diversification of the resulting oxidation products. Herein we show that by engaging in hydrogen bonding, fluorinated alcohols exert a polarity reversal on electron rich functional groups, directing iron and manganese catalyzed oxidation toward a priori stronger and unactivated C-H bonds. As a result, selective hydroxylation of methylenic sites in hydrocarbons and remote aliphatic C-H oxidation of otherwise sensitive alcohol, ether, amide, and amine substrates is achieved employing aqueous hydrogen peroxide as oxidant. Oxidations occur in a predictable manner, with outstanding levels of product chemoselectivity, preserving the first-formed hydroxylation product, thus representing an extremely valuable tool for synthetic planning and development.

Chemical fingerprints of cold physical plasmas - an experimental and computational study using cysteine as tracer compound.

PubMed

Lackmann, J-W; Wende, K; Verlackt, C; Golda, J; Volzke, J; Kogelheide, F; Held, J; Bekeschus, S; Bogaerts, A; Schulz-von der Gathen, V; Stapelmann, K

2018-05-16

Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species released by cold physical plasma are being proposed as effectors in various clinical conditions connected to inflammatory processes. As these plasmas can be tailored in a wide range, models to compare and control their biochemical footprint are desired to infer on the molecular mechanisms underlying the observed effects and to enable the discrimination between different plasma sources. Here, an improved model to trace short-lived reactive species is presented. Using FTIR, high-resolution mass spectrometry, and molecular dynamics computational simulation, covalent modifications of cysteine treated with different plasmas were deciphered and the respective product pattern used to generate a fingerprint of each plasma source. Such, our experimental model allows a fast and reliable grading of the chemical potential of plasmas used for medical purposes. Major reaction products were identified to be cysteine sulfonic acid, cystine, and cysteine fragments. Less-abundant products, such as oxidized cystine derivatives or S-nitrosylated cysteines, were unique to different plasma sources or operating conditions. The data collected point at hydroxyl radicals, atomic O, and singlet oxygen as major contributing species that enable an impact on cellular thiol groups when applying cold plasma in vitro or in vivo.

Microreactor Development for Martian In-Situ Propellant Production

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Holladay, Jamie D.; Brooks, Kriston P.; Wegeng, Robert S.

2007-01-30

The second part of the Martian In-situ Propellant Production (MIPPS) system reviews the development of the Sabatier Reactor (SR). The microchannel SR had integrated cooling channels as well as reaction channels. It was <100cc in volume. The reactor utilized a proprietary catalyst. When operated at 400oC 70-80% CO2 conversion was achieved which enabled ~0.0125 kg CH4/hr production, or 1/8th the target mission. The modular design of the microchannel reactors would enable simple scale up to full scale production for the proposed mission.

Computation Methods for NASA Data-streams for Agricultural Efficiency Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shrestha, B.; O'Hara, C. G.; Mali, P.

2007-12-01

Temporal Map Algebra (TMA) is a novel technique for analyzing time-series of satellite imageries using simple algebraic operators that treats time-series imageries as a three-dimensional dataset, where two dimensions encode planimetric position on earth surface and the third dimension encodes time. Spatio-temporal analytical processing methods such as TMA that utilize moderate spatial resolution satellite imagery having high temporal resolution to create multi-temporal composites are data intensive as well as computationally intensive. TMA analysis for multi-temporal composites provides dramatically enhanced usefulness that will yield previously unavailable capabilities to user communities, if deployment is coupled with significant High Performance Computing (HPC) capabilities; and interfaces are designed to deliver the full potential for these new technological developments. In this research, cross-platform data fusion and adaptive filtering using TMA was employed to create highly useful daily datasets and cloud-free high-temporal resolution vegetation index (VI) composites with enhanced information content for vegetation and bio-productivity monitoring, surveillance, and modeling. Fusion of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data created from Aqua and Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) surface-reflectance data (MOD09) enables the creation of daily composites which are of immense value to a broad spectrum of global and national applications. Additionally these products are highly desired by many natural resources agencies like USDA/FAS/PECAD. Utilizing data streams collected by similar sensors on different platforms that transit the same areas at slightly different times of the day offers the opportunity to develop fused data products that have enhanced cloud-free and reduced noise characteristics. Establishing a Fusion Quality Confidence Code (FQCC) provides a metadata product that quantifies the method of fusion for a given pixel and enables a relative quality and confidence factor to be established for a given daily pixel value. When coupled with metadata that quantify the source sensor, day and time of acquisition, and the fusion method of each pixel to create the daily product; a wealth of information is available to assist in deriving new data and information products. These newly developed abilities to create highly useful daily data sets imply that temporal composites for a geographic area of interest may be created for user-defined temporal intervals that emphasize a user designated day of interest. At GeoResources Institute, Mississippi State University, solutions have been developed to create custom composites and cross-platform satellite data fusion using TMA which are useful for National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Rapid Prototyping Capability (RPC) and Integrated System Solutions (ISS) experiments for agricultural applications.

Ecological assessment of nano-enabled supercapacitors for automotive applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weil, M.; Dura, H.; Shimon, B.; Baumann, M.; Zimmermann, B.; Ziemann, S.; Lei, C.; Markoulidis, F.; Lekakou, T.; Decker, M.

2012-09-01

New materials on nano scale have the potential to overcome existing technical barriers and are one of the most promising key technologies to enable the decoupling of economic growth and resource consumption. Developing these innovative materials for industrial applications means facing a complex quality profile, which includes among others technical, economic, and ecological aspects. So far the two latter aspects are not sufficiently included in technology development, especially from a life cycle point of view. Supercapacitors are considered a promising option for electric energy storage in hybrid and full electric cars. In comparison with presently used lithium based electro chemical storage systems supercapacitors possess a high specific power, but a relatively low specific energy. Therefore, the goal of ongoing research is to develop a new generation of supercapacitors with high specific power and high specific energy. To reach this goal particularly nano materials are developed and tested on cell level. In the presented study the ecological implications (regarding known environmental effects) of carbon based nano materials are analysed using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Major attention is paid to efficiency gains of nano particle production due to scaling up of such processes from laboratory to industrial production scales. Furthermore, a developed approach will be displayed, how to assess the environmental impact of nano materials on an automotive system level over the whole life cycle.

Scalable High-Performance Ultraminiature Graphene Micro-Supercapacitors by a Hybrid Technique Combining Direct Writing and Controllable Microdroplet Transfer.

PubMed

Shen, Daozhi; Zou, Guisheng; Liu, Lei; Zhao, Wenzheng; Wu, Aiping; Duley, Walter W; Zhou, Y Norman

2018-02-14

Miniaturization of energy storage devices can significantly decrease the overall size of electronic systems. However, this miniaturization is limited by the reduction of electrode dimensions and the reproducible transfer of small electrolyte drops. This paper reports first a simple scalable direct writing method for the production of ultraminiature microsupercapacitor (MSC) electrodes, based on femtosecond laser reduced graphene oxide (fsrGO) interlaced pads. These pads, separated by 2 μm spacing, are 100 μm long and 8 μm wide. A second stage involves the accurate transfer of an electrolyte microdroplet on top of each individual electrode, which can avoid any interference of the electrolyte with other electronic components. Abundant in-plane mesopores in fsrGO induced by a fs laser together with ultrashort interelectrode spacing enables MSCs to exhibit a high specific capacitance (6.3 mF cm -2 and 105 F cm -3 ) and ∼100% retention after 1000 cycles. An all graphene resistor-capacitor (RC) filter is also constructed by combining the MSC and a fsrGO resistor, which is confirmed to exhibit highly enhanced performance characteristics. This new hybrid technique combining fs laser direct writing and precise microdroplet transfer easily enables scalable production of ultraminiature MSCs, which is believed to be significant for practical application of micro-supercapacitor microelectronic systems.

Oil and the world economy: some possible futures.

PubMed

Kumhof, Michael; Muir, Dirk

2014-01-13

This paper, using a six-region dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model of the world economy, assesses the output and current account implications of permanent oil supply shocks hitting the world economy. For modest-sized shocks and conventional production technologies, the effects are modest. But for larger shocks, for elasticities of substitution that decline as oil usage is reduced to a minimum, and for production functions in which oil acts as a critical enabler of technologies, output growth could drop significantly. Also, oil prices could become so high that smooth adjustment, as assumed in the model, may become very difficult.

Sustainable polymers from renewable resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Yunqing; Romain, Charles; Williams, Charlotte K.

2016-12-01

Renewable resources are used increasingly in the production of polymers. In particular, monomers such as carbon dioxide, terpenes, vegetable oils and carbohydrates can be used as feedstocks for the manufacture of a variety of sustainable materials and products, including elastomers, plastics, hydrogels, flexible electronics, resins, engineering polymers and composites. Efficient catalysis is required to produce monomers, to facilitate selective polymerizations and to enable recycling or upcycling of waste materials. There are opportunities to use such sustainable polymers in both high-value areas and in basic applications such as packaging. Life-cycle assessment can be used to quantify the environmental benefits of sustainable polymers.

Sustainable polymers from renewable resources.

PubMed

Zhu, Yunqing; Romain, Charles; Williams, Charlotte K

2016-12-14

Renewable resources are used increasingly in the production of polymers. In particular, monomers such as carbon dioxide, terpenes, vegetable oils and carbohydrates can be used as feedstocks for the manufacture of a variety of sustainable materials and products, including elastomers, plastics, hydrogels, flexible electronics, resins, engineering polymers and composites. Efficient catalysis is required to produce monomers, to facilitate selective polymerizations and to enable recycling or upcycling of waste materials. There are opportunities to use such sustainable polymers in both high-value areas and in basic applications such as packaging. Life-cycle assessment can be used to quantify the environmental benefits of sustainable polymers.

Construction of Blaze at the University of Illinois at Chicago: A Shared, High-Performance, Visual Computer for Next-Generation Cyberinfrastructure-Accelerated Scientific, Engineering, Medical and Public Policy Research

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brown, Maxine D.; Leigh, Jason

2014-02-17

The Blaze high-performance visual computing system serves the high-performance computing research and education needs of University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Blaze consists of a state-of-the-art, networked, computer cluster and ultra-high-resolution visualization system called CAVE2(TM) that is currently not available anywhere in Illinois. This system is connected via a high-speed 100-Gigabit network to the State of Illinois' I-WIRE optical network, as well as to national and international high speed networks, such as the Internet2, and the Global Lambda Integrated Facility. This enables Blaze to serve as an on-ramp to national cyberinfrastructure, such as the National Science Foundation’s Blue Waters petascalemore » computer at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Department of Energy’s Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF) at Argonne National Laboratory. DOE award # DE-SC005067, leveraged with NSF award #CNS-0959053 for “Development of the Next-Generation CAVE Virtual Environment (NG-CAVE),” enabled us to create a first-of-its-kind high-performance visual computing system. The UIC Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) worked with two U.S. companies to advance their commercial products and maintain U.S. leadership in the global information technology economy. New applications are being enabled with the CAVE2/Blaze visual computing system that is advancing scientific research and education in the U.S. and globally, and help train the next-generation workforce.« less

Protein Design for Pathway Engineering

PubMed Central

Eriksen, Dawn T.; Lian, Jiazhang; Zhao, Huimin

2013-01-01

Design and construction of biochemical pathways has increased the complexity of biosynthetically-produced compounds when compared to single enzyme biocatalysis. However, the coordination of multiple enzymes can introduce a complicated set of obstacles to overcome in order to achieve a high titer and yield of the desired compound. Metabolic engineering has made great strides in developing tools to optimize the flux through a target pathway, but the inherent characteristics of a particular enzyme within the pathway can still limit the productivity. Thus, judicious protein design is critical for metabolic and pathway engineering. This review will describe various strategies and examples of applying protein design to pathway engineering to optimize the flux through the pathway. The proteins can be engineered for altered substrate specificity/selectivity, increased catalytic activity, reduced mass transfer limitations through specific protein localization, and reduced substrate/product inhibition. Protein engineering can also be expanded to design biosensors to enable high through-put screening and to customize cell signaling networks. These strategies have successfully engineered pathways for significantly increased productivity of the desired product or in the production of novel compounds. PMID:23558037

Tobacco BY-2 Media Component Optimization for a Cost-Efficient Recombinant Protein Production

PubMed Central

Häkkinen, Suvi T.; Reuter, Lauri; Nuorti, Ninni; Joensuu, Jussi J.; Rischer, Heiko; Ritala, Anneli

2018-01-01

Plant cells constitute an attractive platform for production of recombinant proteins as more and more animal-free products and processes are desired. One of the challenges in using plant cells as production hosts has been the costs deriving from expensive culture medium components. In this work, the aim was to optimize the levels of most expensive components in the nutrient medium without compromising the accumulation of biomass and recombinant protein yields. Wild-type BY-2 culture and transgenic tobacco BY-2 expressing green fluorescent protein–Hydrophobin I (GFP-HFBI) fusion protein were used to determine the most inexpensive medium composition. One particularly high-accumulating BY-2 clone, named ‘Hulk,’ produced 1.1 ± 0.2 g/l GFP-HFBI in suspension and kept its high performance during prolonged subculturing. In addition, both cultures were successfully cryopreserved enabling truly industrial application of this plant cell host. With the optimized culture medium, 43–55% cost reduction with regard to biomass and up to 69% reduction with regard to recombinant protein production was achieved. PMID:29434617

Tobacco BY-2 Media Component Optimization for a Cost-Efficient Recombinant Protein Production.

PubMed

Häkkinen, Suvi T; Reuter, Lauri; Nuorti, Ninni; Joensuu, Jussi J; Rischer, Heiko; Ritala, Anneli

2018-01-01

Plant cells constitute an attractive platform for production of recombinant proteins as more and more animal-free products and processes are desired. One of the challenges in using plant cells as production hosts has been the costs deriving from expensive culture medium components. In this work, the aim was to optimize the levels of most expensive components in the nutrient medium without compromising the accumulation of biomass and recombinant protein yields. Wild-type BY-2 culture and transgenic tobacco BY-2 expressing green fluorescent protein-Hydrophobin I (GFP-HFBI) fusion protein were used to determine the most inexpensive medium composition. One particularly high-accumulating BY-2 clone, named 'Hulk,' produced 1.1 ± 0.2 g/l GFP-HFBI in suspension and kept its high performance during prolonged subculturing. In addition, both cultures were successfully cryopreserved enabling truly industrial application of this plant cell host. With the optimized culture medium, 43-55% cost reduction with regard to biomass and up to 69% reduction with regard to recombinant protein production was achieved.

Protein design for pathway engineering.

PubMed

Eriksen, Dawn T; Lian, Jiazhang; Zhao, Huimin

2014-02-01

Design and construction of biochemical pathways has increased the complexity of biosynthetically-produced compounds when compared to single enzyme biocatalysis. However, the coordination of multiple enzymes can introduce a complicated set of obstacles to overcome in order to achieve a high titer and yield of the desired compound. Metabolic engineering has made great strides in developing tools to optimize the flux through a target pathway, but the inherent characteristics of a particular enzyme within the pathway can still limit the productivity. Thus, judicious protein design is critical for metabolic and pathway engineering. This review will describe various strategies and examples of applying protein design to pathway engineering to optimize the flux through the pathway. The proteins can be engineered for altered substrate specificity/selectivity, increased catalytic activity, reduced mass transfer limitations through specific protein localization, and reduced substrate/product inhibition. Protein engineering can also be expanded to design biosensors to enable high through-put screening and to customize cell signaling networks. These strategies have successfully engineered pathways for significantly increased productivity of the desired product or in the production of novel compounds. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Way to Select Electrical Sheets of the Segment Stator Core Motors.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Enomoto, Yuji; Kitamura, Masashi; Sakai, Toshihiko; Ohara, Kouichiro

The segment stator core, high density winding coil, high-energy-product permanent magnet are indispensable technologies in the development of a compact and also high efficient motors. The conventional design method for the segment stator core mostly depended on experienced knowledge of selecting a suitable electromagnetic material, far from optimized design. Therefore, we have developed a novel design method in the selection of a suitable electromagnetic material based on the correlation evaluation between the material characteristics and motor performance. It enables the selection of suitable electromagnetic material that will meet the motor specification.

Towards excimer-laser-based stereolithography: a rapid process to fabricate rigid biodegradable photopolymer scaffolds

PubMed Central

Beke, S.; Anjum, F.; Tsushima, H.; Ceseracciu, L.; Chieregatti, E.; Diaspro, A.; Athanassiou, A.; Brandi, F.

2012-01-01

We demonstrate high-resolution photocross-linking of biodegradable poly(propylene fumarate) (PPF) and diethyl fumarate (DEF) using UV excimer laser photocuring at 308 nm. The curing depth can be tuned in a micrometre range by adjusting the total energy dose (total fluence). Young's moduli of the scaffolds are found to be a few gigapascal, high enough to support bone formation. The results presented here demonstrate that the proposed technique is an excellent tool for the fabrication of stiff and biocompatible structures on a micrometre scale with defined patterns of high resolution in all three spatial dimensions. Using UV laser photocuring at 308 nm will significantly improve the speed of rapid prototyping of biocompatible and biodegradable polymer scaffolds and enables its production in a few seconds, providing high lateral and horizontal resolution. This short timescale is indeed a tremendous asset that will enable a more efficient translation of technology to clinical applications. Preliminary cell tests proved that PPF : DEF scaffolds produced by excimer laser photocuring are biocompatible and, therefore, are promising candidates to be applied in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. PMID:22696484

A comparative analysis of single cell and droplet-based FACS for improving production phenotypes: Riboflavin overproduction in Yarrowia lipolytica.

PubMed

Wagner, James M; Liu, Leqian; Yuan, Shuo-Fu; Venkataraman, Maya V; Abate, Adam R; Alper, Hal S

2018-04-23

Evolutionary approaches to strain engineering inherently require the identification of suitable selection techniques for the product and phenotype of interest. In this work, we undertake a comparative analysis of two related but functionally distinct methods of high-throughput screening: traditional single cell fluorescence activated cell sorting (single cell FACS) and microdroplet-enabled FACS (droplet FACS) using water/oil/water (w/o/w) emulsions. To do so, we first engineer and evolve the non-conventional yeast Yarrowia lipolytica for high extracellular production of riboflavin (vitamin B2), an innately fluorescent product. Following mutagenesis and adaptive evolution, a direct parity-matched comparison of these two selection strategies was conducted. Both single cell FACS and droplet FACS led to significant increases in total riboflavin titer (32 and 54 fold relative to the parental PO1f strain, respectively). However, single cell FACS favored intracellular riboflavin accumulation (with only 70% of total riboflavin secreted) compared with droplet FACS that favored extracellular product accumulation (with 90% of total riboflavin secreted). We find that for the test case of riboflavin, the extent of secretion and total production were highly correlated. The resulting differences in production modes and levels clearly demonstrate the significant impact that selection approaches can exert on final evolutionary outcomes in strain engineering. Moreover, we note that these results provide a cautionary tale when intracellular read-outs of product concentration (including signals from biosensors) are used as surrogates for total production of potentially secreted products. In this regard, these results demonstrate that extracellular production is best assayed through an encapsulation technique when performing high throughput screening. Copyright © 2018 International Metabolic Engineering Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

UAV-Based Hyperspectral Remote Sensing for Precision Agriculture: Challenges and Opportunities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Angel, Y.; Parkes, S. D.; Turner, D.; Houborg, R.; Lucieer, A.; McCabe, M.

2017-12-01

Modern agricultural production relies on monitoring crop status by observing and measuring variables such as soil condition, plant health, fertilizer and pesticide effect, irrigation and crop yield. Managing all of these factors is a considerable challenge for crop producers. As such, providing integrated technological solutions that enable improved diagnostics of field condition to maximize profits, while minimizing environmental impacts, would be of much interest. Such challenges can be addressed by implementing remote sensing systems such as hyperspectral imaging to produce precise biophysical indicator maps across the various cycles of crop development. Recent progress in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have advanced traditional satellite-based capabilities, providing a capacity for high-spatial, spectral and temporal response. However, while some hyperspectral sensors have been developed for use onboard UAVs, significant investment is required to develop a system and data processing workflow that retrieves accurately georeferenced mosaics. Here we explore the use of a pushbroom hyperspectral camera that is integrated on-board a multi-rotor UAV system to measure the surface reflectance in 272 distinct spectral bands across a wavelengths range spanning 400-1000 nm, and outline the requirement for sensor calibration, integration onto a stable UAV platform enabling accurate positional data, flight planning, and development of data post-processing workflows for georeferenced mosaics. The provision of high-quality and geo-corrected imagery facilitates the development of metrics of vegetation health that can be used to identify potential problems such as production inefficiencies, diseases and nutrient deficiencies and other data-streams to enable improved crop management. Immense opportunities remain to be exploited in the implementation of UAV-based hyperspectral sensing (and its combination with other imaging systems) to provide a transferable and scalable integrated framework for crop growth monitoring and yield prediction. Here we explore some of the challenges and issues in translating the available technological capacity into a useful and useable image collection and processing flow-path that enables these potential applications to be better realized.

Modular High-Energy Systems for Solar Power Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howell, Joe T.; Carrington, Connie K.; Marzwell, Neville I.; Mankins, John C.

2006-01-01

Modular High-Energy Systems are Stepping Stones to provide capabilities for energy-rich infrastructure located in space to support a variety of exploration scenarios as well as provide a supplemental source of energy during peak demands to ground grid systems. Abundant renewable energy at lunar or other locations could support propellant production and storage in refueling scenarios that enable affordable exploration. Renewable energy platforms in geosynchronous Earth orbits can collect and transmit power to satellites, or to Earth-surface locations. Energy-rich space technologies also enable the use of electric-powered propulsion systems that could efficiently deliver cargo and exploration facilities to remote locations. A first step to an energy-rich space infrastructure is a 100-kWe class solar-powered platform in Earth orbit. The platform would utilize advanced technologies in solar power collection and generation, power management and distribution, thermal management, electric propulsion, wireless avionics, autonomous in space rendezvous and docking, servicing, and robotic assembly. It would also provide an energy-rich free-flying platform to demonstrate in space a portfolio of technology flight experiments. This paper summary a preliminary design concept for a 100-kWe solar-powered satellite system to demonstrate in-flight a variety of advanced technologies, each as a separate payload. These technologies include, but are not limited to state-of-the-art solar concentrators, highly efficient multi-junction solar cells, integrated thermal management on the arrays, and innovative deployable structure design and packaging to enable the 100-kW satellite feasible to launch on one existing launch vehicle. Higher voltage arrays and power distribution systems (PDS) reduce or eliminate the need for massive power converters, and could enable direct-drive of high-voltage solar electric thrusters.

Comparison of bioluminescent kinase assays using substrate depletion and product formation.

PubMed

Tanega, Cordelle; Shen, Min; Mott, Bryan T; Thomas, Craig J; MacArthur, Ryan; Inglese, James; Auld, Douglas S

2009-12-01

Assays for ATPases have been enabled for high-throughput screening (HTS) by employing firefly luciferase to detect the remaining ATP in the assay. However, for any enzyme assay, measurement of product formation is a more sensitive assay design. Recently, technologies that allow detection of the ADP product from ATPase reactions have been described using fluorescent methods of detection. We describe here the characterization of a bioluminescent assay that employs firefly luciferase in a coupled-enzyme assay format to enable detection of ADP levels from ATPase assays (ADP-Glo, Promega Corp.). We determined the performance of the ADP-Glo assay in 1,536-well microtiter plates using the protein kinase Clk4 and a 1,352 member kinase focused combinatorial library. The ADP-Glo assay was compared to the Clk4 assay performed using a bioluminescence ATP-depletion format (Kinase-Glo, Promega Corp). We performed this analysis using quantitative HTS (qHTS) where we determined potency values for all library members and identified approximately 300 compounds with potencies ranging from as low as 50 nM to >10 microM, yielding a robust dataset for the comparison. Both assay formats showed high performance (Z'-factors approximately 0.9) and showed a similar potency distribution for the actives. We conclude that the bioluminescence ADP detection assay system is a viable generic alternative to the widely used ATP-depletion assay for ATPases and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches.

Boosting mediated electron transfer in bioelectrochemical systems with tailored defined microbial cocultures.

PubMed

Schmitz, Simone; Rosenbaum, Miriam A

2018-05-19

Bioelectrochemical systems (BES) hold great promise for sustainable energy generation via a microbial catalyst from organic matter, for example, from wastewater. To improve current generation in BES, understanding the underlying microbiology of the electrode community is essential. Electron mediator producing microorganism like Pseudomonas aeruginosa play an essential role in efficient electricity generation in BES. These microbes enable even nonelectroactive microorganism like Enterobacter aerogenes to contribute to current production. Together they form a synergistic coculture, where both contribute to community welfare. To use microbial co-operation in BES, the physical and chemical environments provided in the natural habitats of the coculture play a crucial role. Here, we show that synergistic effects in defined cocultures of P. aeruginosa and E. aerogenes can be strongly enhanced toward high current production by adapting process parameters, like pH, temperature, oxygen demand, and substrate requirements. Especially, oxygen was identified as a major factor influencing coculture behavior and optimization of its supply could enhance electric current production over 400%. Furthermore, operating the coculture in fed-batch mode enabled us to obtain very high current densities and to harvest electrical energy for 1 month. In this optimized condition, the coulombic efficiency of the process was boosted to 20%, which is outstanding for mediator-based electron transfer. This study lays the foundation for a rationally designed utilization of cocultures in BES for bioenergy generation from specific wastewaters or for bioprocess sensing and for benefiting from their synergistic effects under controlled bioprocess condition. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Roll-to-Roll Nanoforming of Metals Using Laser-Induced Superplasticity.

PubMed

Goswami, Debkalpa; Munera, Juan C; Pal, Aniket; Sadri, Behnam; Scarpetti, Caio Lui P G; Martinez, Ramses V

2018-05-24

This Letter describes a low-cost, scalable nanomanufacturing process that enables the continuous forming of thin metallic layers with nanoscale accuracy using roll-to-roll, laser-induced superplasticity (R2RLIS). R2RLIS uses a laser shock to induce the ultrahigh-strain-rate deformation of metallic films at room temperature into low-cost polymeric nanomolds, independently of the original grain size of the metal. This simple and inexpensive nanoforming method does not require access to cleanrooms and associated facilities, and can be easily implemented on conventional CO 2 lasers, enabling laser systems commonly used for rapid prototyping or industrial cutting and engraving to fabricate uniform and three-dimensional crystalline metallic nanostructures over large areas. Tuning the laser power during the R2RLIS process enables the control of the aspect ratio and the mechanical and optical properties of the fabricated nanostructures. This roll-to-roll technique successfully fabricates mechanically strengthened gold plasmonic nanostructures with aspect ratios as high as 5 that exhibit high oxidation resistance and strong optical field enhancements. The CO 2 laser used in R2RLIS can also integrate the fabricated nanostructures on transparent flexible substrates with robust interfacial contact. The ability to fabricate ultrasmooth metallic nanostructures using roll-to-roll manufacturing enables the large scale production, at a relatively low-cost, of flexible plasmonic devices toward emerging applications.

Very high gravity ethanol and fatty acid production of Zymomonas mobilis without amino acid and vitamin.

PubMed

Wang, Haoyong; Cao, Shangzhi; Wang, William Tianshuo; Wang, Kaven Tianyv; Jia, Xianhui

2016-06-01

Very high gravity (VHG) fermentation is the mainstream technology in ethanol industry, which requires the strains be resistant to multiple stresses such as high glucose concentration, high ethanol concentration, high temperature and harsh acidic conditions. To our knowledge, it was not reported previously that any ethanol-producing microbe showed a high performance in VHG fermentations without amino acid and vitamin. Here we demonstrate the engineering of a xylose utilizing recombinant Zymomonas mobilis for VHG ethanol fermentations. The recombinant strain can produce ethanol up to 136 g/L without amino acid and vitamin with a theoretical yield of 90 %, which is significantly superior to that produced by all the reported ethanol-producing strains. The intracellular fatty acids of the bacterial were about 16 % of the bacterial dry biomass, with the ratio of ethanol:fatty acids was about 273:1 (g/g). The recombinant strain was achieved by a multivariate-modular strategy tackles with the multiple stresses which are closely linked to the ethanol productivity of Z. mobilis. The over-expression of metB/yfdZ operon enabled the growth of the recombinant Z. mobilis in a chemically defined medium without amino acid and vitamin; and the fatty acids overproduction significantly increased ethanol tolerance and ethanol production. The coupled production of ethanol with fatty acids of the Z. mobilis without amino acid and vitamin under VHG fermentation conditions may permit a significant reduction of the production cost of ethanol and microbial fatty acids.

Ultrahigh Responsivity-Bandwidth Product in a Compact InP Nanopillar Phototransistor Directly Grown on Silicon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ko, Wai Son; Bhattacharya, Indrasen; Tran, Thai-Truong D.; Ng, Kar Wei; Adair Gerke, Stephen; Chang-Hasnain, Connie

2016-09-01

Highly sensitive and fast photodetectors can enable low power, high bandwidth on-chip optical interconnects for silicon integrated electronics. III-V compound semiconductor direct-bandgap materials with high absorption coefficients are particularly promising for photodetection in energy-efficient optical links because of the potential to scale down the absorber size, and the resulting capacitance and dark current, while maintaining high quantum efficiency. We demonstrate a compact bipolar junction phototransistor with a high current gain (53.6), bandwidth (7 GHz) and responsivity (9.5 A/W) using a single crystalline indium phosphide nanopillar directly grown on a silicon substrate. Transistor gain is obtained at sub-picowatt optical power and collector bias close to the CMOS line voltage. The quantum efficiency-bandwidth product of 105 GHz is the highest for photodetectors on silicon. The bipolar junction phototransistor combines the receiver front end circuit and absorber into a monolithic integrated device, eliminating the wire capacitance between the detector and first amplifier stage.

Ultrahigh Responsivity-Bandwidth Product in a Compact InP Nanopillar Phototransistor Directly Grown on Silicon

PubMed Central

Ko, Wai Son; Bhattacharya, Indrasen; Tran, Thai-Truong D.; Ng, Kar Wei; Adair Gerke, Stephen; Chang-Hasnain, Connie

2016-01-01

Highly sensitive and fast photodetectors can enable low power, high bandwidth on-chip optical interconnects for silicon integrated electronics. III-V compound semiconductor direct-bandgap materials with high absorption coefficients are particularly promising for photodetection in energy-efficient optical links because of the potential to scale down the absorber size, and the resulting capacitance and dark current, while maintaining high quantum efficiency. We demonstrate a compact bipolar junction phototransistor with a high current gain (53.6), bandwidth (7 GHz) and responsivity (9.5 A/W) using a single crystalline indium phosphide nanopillar directly grown on a silicon substrate. Transistor gain is obtained at sub-picowatt optical power and collector bias close to the CMOS line voltage. The quantum efficiency-bandwidth product of 105 GHz is the highest for photodetectors on silicon. The bipolar junction phototransistor combines the receiver front end circuit and absorber into a monolithic integrated device, eliminating the wire capacitance between the detector and first amplifier stage. PMID:27659796

Comparison of roll-to-roll replication approaches for microfluidic and optical functions in lab-on-a-chip diagnostic devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brecher, Christian; Baum, Christoph; Bastuck, Thomas

2015-03-01

Economically advantageous microfabrication technologies for lab-on-a-chip diagnostic devices substituting commonly used glass etching or injection molding processes are one of the key enablers for the emerging market of microfluidic devices. On-site detection in fields of life sciences, point of care diagnostics and environmental analysis requires compact, disposable and highly functionalized systems. Roll-to-roll production as a high volume process has become the emerging fabrication technology for integrated, complex high technology products within recent years (e.g. fuel cells). Differently functionalized polymer films enable researchers to create a new generation of lab-on-a-chip devices by combining electronic, microfluidic and optical functions in multilayer architecture. For replication of microfluidic and optical functions via roll-to-roll production process competitive approaches are available. One of them is to imprint fluidic channels and optical structures of micro- or nanometer scale from embossing rollers into ultraviolet (UV) curable lacquers on polymer substrates. Depending on dimension, shape and quantity of those structures there are alternative manufacturing technologies for the embossing roller. Ultra-precise diamond turning, electroforming or casting polymer materials are used either for direct structuring or manufacturing of roller sleeves. Mastering methods are selected for application considering replication quality required and structure complexity. Criteria for the replication quality are surface roughness and contour accuracy. Structure complexity is evaluated by shapes producible (e.g. linear, circular) and aspect ratio. Costs for the mastering process and structure lifetime are major cost factors. The alternative replication approaches are introduced and analyzed corresponding to the criteria presented. Advantages and drawbacks of each technology are discussed and exemplary applications are presented.

Density and crosswind from GOCE - comparisons with other satellite data, ground-based observations and models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doornbos, E.; Bruinsma, S.; Conde, M.; Forbes, J. M.

2013-12-01

Observations made by the European Space Agency (ESA) Gravity field and Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite have enabled the production of a spin-off product of high resolution and high accuracy data on thermosphere density, derived from aerodynamic analysis of acceleration measurements. In this regard, the mission follows in the footsteps of the earlier accelerometer-carrying gravity missions CHAMP and GRACE. The extremely high accuracy and redundancy of the six accelerometers carried by GOCE in its gravity gradiometer instrument has provided new insights on the performance and calibration of these instruments. Housekeeping data on the activation of the GOCE drag free control thruster, made available by ESA has made the production of the thermosphere data possible. The long duration low altitude of GOCE, enabled by its drag free control system, has ensured the presence of very large aerodynamic accelerations throughout its lifetime. This has been beneficial for the accurate derivation of data on the wind speed encountered by the satellite. We have compared the GOCE density observations with data from CHAMP and GRACE. The crosswind data has been compared with CHAMP observations, as well as ground-based observations, made using Scanning Doppler Imagers in Alaska. Models of the thermosphere can provide a bigger, global picture, required as a background in the interpretation of the local space- and ground-based measurements. The comparison of these different sources of information on thermosphere density and wind, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, can provide scientific insight, as well as inputs for further refinement of the processing algorithms and models that are part of the various techniques. Density and crosswind data derived from GOCE (dusk-dawn) and CHAMP (midnight-noon) satellite accelerometer data, superimposed over HWM07 modelled horizontal wind vectors.

Duplicating Research Success at Xerox

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hays, Dan A.

2003-03-01

The genesis of Xerox is rooted in the invention of xerography by physicist Chester Carlson in 1938. The initial research by Carlson can be viewed as the first of four successful xerographic research eras that have contributed to the growth of Xerox. The second era began in 1944 when Carlson established a working relationship with Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, OH. Due to many research advances at Battelle, the Haloid Corporation in Rochester, NY acquired a license to the xerographic process in 1947. The name of the company was changed to Xerox Corporation in 1961 following the wide market acceptance of the legendary Xerox 914 copier. Rapid revenue growth of Xerox in the mid-'60s provided the foundation for a third successful research era in the '70s and '80s. A research center was established in Webster, NY for the purpose of improving the design of xerographic subsystems and materials. These research efforts contributed to the commercial success of the DocuTech family of digital production printers. The fourth successful research era was initiated in the '90s with the objective of identifying a high-speed color xerographic printing process. A number of research advances contributed to the design of a 100 page per minute printer recently introduced as the Xerox DocuColor iGen3 Digital Production Press. To illustrate the role of research in enabling these waves of successful xerographic products, the physics of photoreceptors, light exposure and development subsystems will be discussed. Since the annual worldwide revenue of the xerographic industry exceeds 100 billion dollars, the economic return on Carlson's initial research investment in the mid-'30s is astronomical. The future for xerography remains promising since the technology enables high-speed digital printing of high-quality color documents with variable information.

Dropwise additive manufacturing of pharmaceutical products for melt-based dosage forms.

PubMed

Içten, Elçin; Giridhar, Arun; Taylor, Lynne S; Nagy, Zoltan K; Reklaitis, Gintaras V

2015-05-01

The US Food and Drug Administration introduced the quality by design approach and process analytical technology guidance to encourage innovation and efficiency in pharmaceutical development, manufacturing, and quality assurance. As part of this renewed emphasis on the improvement of manufacturing, the pharmaceutical industry has begun to develop more efficient production processes with more intensive use of online measurement and sensing, real-time quality control, and process control tools. Here, we present dropwise additive manufacturing of pharmaceutical products (DAMPP) as an alternative to conventional pharmaceutical manufacturing methods. This mini-manufacturing process for the production of pharmaceuticals utilizes drop on demand printing technology for automated and controlled deposition of melt-based formulations onto edible substrates. The advantages of drop-on-demand technology, including reproducible production of small droplets, adjustable drop sizing, high placement accuracy, and flexible use of different formulations, enable production of individualized dosing even for low-dose and high-potency drugs. In this work, DAMPP is used to produce solid oral dosage forms from hot melts of an active pharmaceutical ingredient and a polymer. The dosage forms are analyzed to show the reproducibility of dosing and the dissolution behavior of different formulations. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association.

Demand-driven biogas production by flexible feeding in full-scale - Process stability and flexibility potentials.

PubMed

Mauky, Eric; Weinrich, Sören; Jacobi, Hans-Fabian; Nägele, Hans-Joachim; Liebetrau, Jan; Nelles, Michael

2017-08-01

For future energy supply systems with high proportions from renewable energy sources, biogas plants are a promising option to supply demand-driven electricity to compensate the divergence between energy demand and energy supply by uncontrolled sources like wind and solar. Apart expanding gas storage capacity a demand-oriented feeding with the aim of flexible gas production can be an effective alternative. The presented study demonstrated a high degree of intraday flexibility (up to 50% compared to the average) and a potential for an electricity shutdown of up to 3 days (decreasing gas production by more than 60%) by flexible feeding in full-scale. Furthermore, the long-term process stability was not affected negatively due to the flexible feeding. The flexible feeding resulted in a variable rate of gas production and a dynamic progression of individual acids and the respective pH-value. In consequence, a demand-driven biogas production may enable significant savings in terms of the required gas storage volume (up to 65%) and permit far greater plant flexibility compared to constant gas production. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Soursop (Annona muricata) vinegar production and its chemical compositions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ho, Chin Wai; Lazim, Azwan Mat; Fazry, Shazrul; Zaki, Umi Kalsum Hj Hussain; Lim, Seng Joe

2016-11-01

Vinegar is a liquid product that undergoes double fermentations, which are alcoholic and acetous fermentation. Sugar source was converted to ethanol in alcoholic fermentation, meanwhile ethanol was oxidised to acetic acid during acetous fermentation. Soursop (Annona muricata) was the starting material in this study, as it is easily available in Malaysia. Its highly aromatic, juicy and distinctive flavours enables the production of high quality vinegar. The objective of this research is to produce good quality soursop vinegar as an innovative method to preserve and utilise the soursop fruit in Malaysia and to determine its chemical compositions. It was found that the sugar content reduces over time, and it is inversely proportional to the ethanol concentration, due to the production of ethanol from sugar. Acetic acid was also found to increase with increasing fermentation time. pH showed no significant difference (p>0.05) in the reduction of sugar and the production of ethanol. However, significantly higher (p<0.05) production of acetic acid was observed at pH 5.0 and 5.5, compared to that at pH 4.5. There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in Vitamin C contents in all soursop vinegar samples produced using different treatments.

RF Manipulation and Detection of Protons in the High Performance Antiproton Trap (HiPAT)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martin, James J.; Lewis, Raymond A.; Pearson, J. Boise; Sims, W. Herb; Chakrabarti, Suman; Fant, Wallace E.; McDonald, Stan

2003-01-01

The significant energy density of matter-antimatter annihilation is attractive to the designers of future space propulsion systems, with the potential to offer a highly compact source of power. Many propulsion concepts exist that could take advantage of matter-antimatter reactions, and current antiproton production rates are sufficient to support basic proof-of-principle evaluation of technology associated with antimatter-derived propulsion. One enabling technology for such experiments is portable storage of low energy antiprotons, allowing antiprotons to be trapped, stored, and transported for use at an experimental facility.

270V Battery Using COTS NiCd Cells For Manned Spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Darcy, Eric; Davies,Frank; Hummer, Leigh; Strangways, Brad

2002-01-01

A high power (>35 kW at 215V), low capacity (5.2 Ah), and compact (45L) NiCd battery was developed for the X-38 Crew Return Vehicle (CRV), which is an experimental version of the lifeboat for the International Space Station (ISS). A simple design and innovative approach using a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) NiCd cell design enabled the design, qualification, and production of 4 flight units of this highly reliable and safe spacecraft battery to be achieved rapidly (2 years) and cheaply ($13M).

Applications of Bacterial Magnetic Nanoparticles in Nanobiotechnology.

PubMed

Chen, Chuanfang; Wang, Pingping; Li, Linlin

2016-03-01

The bacterial magnetic nanoparticle (BMP) has been well researched in nanobiotechnology as a new magnetic crystal. The BMPs are extracted from magnetotactic bacteria and under precise biological control. Compared with engineered magnetic nanoparticles synthesized by chemical approaches, BMPs have the properties of large production, monodispersity, high crystallinity, and close-to-bulk magnetization, which enable BMPs to be the highly promising magnetic nanoparticles for nanobiotechnology. In this paper, we review the biomedical applications of BMPs in magnetic hyperthermia, drug treatment with tumour and bioseparation. In addition, the biodistribution and toxicity are also reviewed.

Genome and methylome of the oleaginous diatom Cyclotella cryptica reveal genetic flexibility toward a high lipid phenotype

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Traller, Jesse C.; Cokus, Shawn J.; Lopez, David A.

Here, improvement in the performance of eukaryotic microalgae for biofuel and bioproduct production is largely dependent on characterization of metabolic mechanisms within the cell. The marine diatom Cyclotella cryptica, which was originally identified in the Aquatic Species Program, is a promising strain of microalgae for large-scale production of biofuel and bioproducts, such as omega-3 fatty acids. As a result, we sequenced the nuclear genome and methylome of this oleaginous diatom to identify the genetic traits that enable substantial accumulation of triacylglycerol. The genome is comprised of highly methylated repetitive sequence, which does not significantly change under silicon starved lipid induction,more » and data further suggests the primary role of DNA methylation is to suppress DNA transposition. Annotation of pivotal glycolytic, lipid metabolism, and carbohydrate degradation processes reveal an expanded enzyme repertoire in C. cryptica that would allow for an increased metabolic capacity toward triacylglycerol production. Identification of previously unidentified genes, including those involved in carbon transport and chitin metabolism, provide potential targets for genetic manipulation of carbon flux to further increase its lipid phenotype. New genetic tools were developed, bringing this organism on a par with other microalgae in terms of genetic manipulation and characterization approaches. Furthermore, functional annotation and detailed cross-species comparison of key carbon rich processes in C. cryptica highlights the importance of enzymatic subcellular compartmentation for regulation of carbon flux, which is often overlooked in photosynthetic microeukaryotes. The availability of the genome sequence, as well as advanced genetic manipulation tools enable further development of this organism for deployment in large-scale production systems.« less

Rational engineering of p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase to enable efficient gallic acid synthesis via a novel artificial biosynthetic pathway.

PubMed

Chen, Zhenya; Shen, Xiaolin; Wang, Jian; Wang, Jia; Yuan, Qipeng; Yan, Yajun

2017-11-01

Gallic acid (GA) is a naturally occurring phytochemical that has strong antioxidant and antibacterial activities. It is also used as a potential platform chemical for the synthesis of diverse high-value compounds. Hydrolytic degradation of tannins by acids, bases or microorganisms serves as a major way for GA production, which however, might cause environmental pollution and low yield and efficiency. Here, we report a novel approach for efficient microbial production of GA. First, structure-based rational engineering of PobA, a p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, generated a new mutant, Y385F/T294A PobA, which displayed much higher activity toward 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (3,4-DHBA) than the wild-type and any other reported mutants. Remarkably, expression of this mutant in Escherichia coli enabled generation of 1149.59 mg/L GA from 1000 mg/L 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (4-HBA), representing a 93% molar conversion ratio. Based on that, we designed and reconstituted a novel artificial biosynthetic pathway of GA and achieved 440.53 mg/L GA production from simple carbon sources in E. coli. Further enhancement of precursor supply through reinforcing shikimate pathway was able to improve GA de novo production to 1266.39 mg/L in shake flasks. Overall, this study not only led to the development of a highly active PobA variant for hydroxylating 3,4-DHBA into GA via structure-based protein engineering approach, but also demonstrated a promising pathway for bio-based manufacturing of GA and its derived compounds. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 2571-2580. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Genome and methylome of the oleaginous diatom Cyclotella cryptica reveal genetic flexibility toward a high lipid phenotype

DOE PAGES

Traller, Jesse C.; Cokus, Shawn J.; Lopez, David A.; ...

2016-11-25

Here, improvement in the performance of eukaryotic microalgae for biofuel and bioproduct production is largely dependent on characterization of metabolic mechanisms within the cell. The marine diatom Cyclotella cryptica, which was originally identified in the Aquatic Species Program, is a promising strain of microalgae for large-scale production of biofuel and bioproducts, such as omega-3 fatty acids. As a result, we sequenced the nuclear genome and methylome of this oleaginous diatom to identify the genetic traits that enable substantial accumulation of triacylglycerol. The genome is comprised of highly methylated repetitive sequence, which does not significantly change under silicon starved lipid induction,more » and data further suggests the primary role of DNA methylation is to suppress DNA transposition. Annotation of pivotal glycolytic, lipid metabolism, and carbohydrate degradation processes reveal an expanded enzyme repertoire in C. cryptica that would allow for an increased metabolic capacity toward triacylglycerol production. Identification of previously unidentified genes, including those involved in carbon transport and chitin metabolism, provide potential targets for genetic manipulation of carbon flux to further increase its lipid phenotype. New genetic tools were developed, bringing this organism on a par with other microalgae in terms of genetic manipulation and characterization approaches. Furthermore, functional annotation and detailed cross-species comparison of key carbon rich processes in C. cryptica highlights the importance of enzymatic subcellular compartmentation for regulation of carbon flux, which is often overlooked in photosynthetic microeukaryotes. The availability of the genome sequence, as well as advanced genetic manipulation tools enable further development of this organism for deployment in large-scale production systems.« less

Study of natural occurrence of T-2 and HT-2 toxins and their glucosyl derivatives from field barley to malt by high resolution orbitrap mass spectrometry

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A recent European Union Commission Recommendation (2013/165/EU), asked for collection of more data on the occurrence of T-2 and HT-2 toxins in cereals and cereal products and emphasized that if the method of analysis enables it, it would be appropriate to collect data of the occurrence of masked myc...

Iodine(III)-Mediated Selective Intermolecular C-H Amination for the Chemical Diversification of Tryptamines.

PubMed

Bosnidou, Alexandra E; Millán, Alba; Ceballos, Javier; Martínez, Claudio; Muñiz, Kilian

2016-08-05

Defined hypervalent iodine reagents of the general structure PhI[N(SO2R)(SO2R')]2 promote the selective direct C-H-amination of the indole core of various tryptamines. Starting from a general C2-amination strategy, subsequent transformations enable a variety of site-selective functionalizations, which proceed with noteworthy high chemoselectivity and provide an overall access to structurally diversified products.

New method for the rapid extraction of natural products: efficient isolation of shikimic acid from star anise.

PubMed

Just, Jeremy; Deans, Bianca J; Olivier, Wesley J; Paull, Brett; Bissember, Alex C; Smith, Jason A

2015-05-15

A new, practical, rapid, and high-yielding process for the pressurized hot water extraction (PHWE) of multigram quantities of shikimic acid from star anise (Illicium verum) using an unmodified household espresso machine has been developed. This operationally simple and inexpensive method enables the efficient and straightforward isolation of shikimic acid and the facile preparation of a range of its synthetic derivatives.

Two-stage coal liquefaction without gas-phase hydrogen

DOEpatents

Stephens, H.P.

1986-06-05

A process is provided for the production of a hydrogen-donor solvent useful in the liquefaction of coal, wherein the water-gas shift reaction is used to produce hydrogen while simultaneously hydrogenating a donor solvent. A process for the liquefaction of coal using said solvent is also provided. The process enables avoiding the use of a separate water-gas shift reactor as well as high pressure equipment for liquefaction. 3 tabs.

Stabilization of Softwood-Derived Pyrolysis Oils for Continuous Bio-oil Hydroprocessing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Olarte, Mariefel V.; Zacher, Alan H.; Padmaperuma, Asanga B.

The use of fast pyrolysis as a potential renewable liquid transportation fuel alternative to crude oil depends on successful catalytic upgrading to produce a refinery-ready product with oxygen content and qualities (i.e. specific functional group or compound content) that is compatible with the product’s proposed insertion point. Catalytic upgrading of bio-oil requires high temperature and pressure, while similar to crude oil hydrotreating, is not as straightforward for the thermally unstable pyrolysis oil. For years, a two-temperature zone, downflow trickle bed reactor was the state-of-the art for continuous operation. However, pressure excursion due to plug formation still occurred, typically at themore » high temperature transition zone, leading to a process shutdown within 140 h. Recently, a bio-oil pre-treatment process, together with a robust commercial catalyst, was found to be enabling the continuous operation of the two-zone hydroprocessing system. Here, we report the results on pre-treating bio-oil at 413 K and 8.4 MPa of flowing H2 (500 L H2/L bio-oil, 0.5 L bio-oil/L catalyst bed) and the attempts to characterize this oil product to understand the chemistry which enabled the long-term processing of bio-oil.« less

Industry and Government Perspective in Influenza Control

PubMed Central

Slater, Eve E.

2004-01-01

We have had recent reminders of the threats posed by naturally occurring and bioengineered pandemic respiratory infections. It is estimated that if a pandemic infection were to arise anywhere in the world, such an infection would become widespread within 3 months and would have its maximum effect within 6 months. At present, the fastest that a vaccine effective against a new combination of antigens can be developed, purified, and produced is 9–12 months, not counting time for mass production. The current rate at which the production of influenza vaccines can be accelerated is limited by the fact that production is carried out in eggs. Therefore, there is urgent need for cell-based vaccine technologies. These are under way in several centers, yet attainment of a safe product remains several years away. Furthermore, there is need for public and private investment in manufacturing surge capacity and/or dedicated National Institutes of Health facilities to enable accelerated production. We must support efforts to shorten development time by developing and approving subunit antigens and immunogens that anticipate the most virulent viral mutations. Surveillance sites and their electronic interconnections must be expanded. Another component still lacking is funding for laboratories with high throughput screening and strong informatics capabilities to enable the fingerprinting and cataloguing of all known specimens of influenza and other pathogenic organisms for rapid identification of emerging or bioengineered pathogens. In all these efforts, we look to the federal government and to the biomedical research community in both public and private sectors. PMID:15061626

The Role of Laser Additive Manufacturing Methods of Metals in Repair, Refurbishment and Remanufacturing - Enabling Circular Economy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leino, Maija; Pekkarinen, Joonas; Soukka, Risto

Circular economy is an economy model where products, components, and materials are aimed to be kept at their highest utility and value at all times. Repair, refurbishment and remanufacturing processes are procedures aiming at returning the value of the product during its life cycle. Additive manufacturing (AM) is expected to be an enabling technology in circular economy based business models. One of AM process that enables repair, refurbishment and remanufacturing is Directed Energy Deposition. Respectively Powder Bed Fusion enables manufacturing of replacement components on demand. The aim of this study is to identify the current research findings and state of art of utilizing AM in repair, refurbishment and remanufacturing processes of metallic products. The focus is in identifying possibilities of AM in promotion of circular economy and expected environmental benefits based on the found literature. Results of the study indicate significant potential in utilizing AM in repair, refurbishment and remanufacturing activities.

Enhanced Passive Cooling for Waterless-Power Production Technologies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rodriguez, Salvador B.

2016-06-14

Recent advances in the literature and at SNL indicate the strong potential for passive, specialized surfaces to significantly enhance power production output. Our exploratory computational and experimental research indicates that fractal and swirl surfaces can help enable waterless-power production by increasing the amount of heat transfer and turbulence, when compared with conventional surfaces. Small modular reactors, advanced reactors, and non-nuclear plants (e.g., solar and coal) are ideally suited for sCO2 coolant loops. The sCO2 loop converts the thermal heat into electricity, while the specialized surfaces passively and securely reject the waste process heat in an environmentally benign manner. The resultant,more » integrated energy systems are highly suitable for small grids, rural areas, and arid regions.« less

Dereplication of peptidic natural products through database search of mass spectra

PubMed Central

Mohimani, Hosein; Gurevich, Alexey; Mikheenko, Alla; Garg, Neha; Nothias, Louis-Felix; Ninomiya, Akihiro; Takada, Kentaro; Dorrestein, Pieter C.; Pevzner, Pavel A.

2016-01-01

Peptidic Natural Products (PNPs) are widely used compounds that include many antibiotics and a variety of other bioactive peptides. While recent breakthroughs in PNP discovery raised the challenge of developing new algorithms for their analysis, identification of PNPs via database search of tandem mass spectra remains an open problem. To address this problem, natural product researchers utilize dereplication strategies that identify known PNPs and lead to the discovery of new ones even in cases when the reference spectra are not present in existing spectral libraries. DEREPLICATOR is a new dereplication algorithm that enabled high-throughput PNP identification and that is compatible with large-scale mass spectrometry-based screening platforms for natural product discovery. After searching nearly one hundred million tandem mass spectra in the Global Natural Products Social (GNPS) molecular networking infrastructure, DEREPLICATOR identified an order of magnitude more PNPs (and their new variants) than any previous dereplication efforts. PMID:27820803

Insights into the microbial diversity and community dynamics of Chinese traditional fermented foods from using high-throughput sequencing approaches*

PubMed Central

He, Guo-qing; Liu, Tong-jie; Sadiq, Faizan A.; Gu, Jing-si; Zhang, Guo-hua

2017-01-01

Chinese traditional fermented foods have a very long history dating back thousands of years and have become an indispensable part of Chinese dietary culture. A plethora of research has been conducted to unravel the composition and dynamics of microbial consortia associated with Chinese traditional fermented foods using culture-dependent as well as culture-independent methods, like different high-throughput sequencing (HTS) techniques. These HTS techniques enable us to understand the relationship between a food product and its microbes to a greater extent than ever before. Considering the importance of Chinese traditional fermented products, the objective of this paper is to review the diversity and dynamics of microbiota in Chinese traditional fermented foods revealed by HTS approaches. PMID:28378567

Two-photon polymerization as a structuring technology in production: future or fiction?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harnisch, Emely Marie; Schmitt, Robert

2017-02-01

Two-photon polymerization (TPP) has become an established generative fabrication technique for individual, up to three-dimensional micro- and nanostructures. Due to its high resolution beyond the diffraction limit, its writing speed is limited and in most cases, very special structures are fabricated in small quantities. With regard to the trends of the optical market towards higher efficiencies, miniaturization and higher functionalities, there is a high demand for so called intelligent light management systems, including also individual optical elements. Here, TPP could offer a fabrication technique, enabling higher complexities of structures than conventional cutting and lithographic technologies do. But how can TPP opened up for production? In the following, some approaches to establish TPP as a mastering technique for molding are presented against this background.

Selective transformations of complex molecules are enabled by aptameric protective groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bastian, Andreas A.; Marcozzi, Alessio; Herrmann, Andreas

2012-10-01

Emerging trends in drug discovery are prompting a renewed interest in natural products as a source of chemical diversity and lead structures. However, owing to the structural complexity of many natural compounds, the synthesis of derivatives is not easily realized. Here, we demonstrate a conceptually new approach using oligonucleotides as aptameric protective groups. These block several functionalities by non-covalent interactions in a complex molecule and enable the highly chemo- and regioselective derivatization (>99%) of natural antibiotics in a single synthetic step with excellent conversions of up to 83%. This technique reveals an important structure-activity relationship in neamine-based antibiotics and should help both to accelerate the discovery of new biologically active structures and to avoid potentially costly and cumbersome synthetic routes.

Enabling technologies and green processes in cyclodextrin chemistry.

PubMed

Cravotto, Giancarlo; Caporaso, Marina; Jicsinszky, Laszlo; Martina, Katia

2016-01-01

The design of efficient synthetic green strategies for the selective modification of cyclodextrins (CDs) is still a challenging task. Outstanding results have been achieved in recent years by means of so-called enabling technologies, such as microwaves, ultrasound and ball mills, that have become irreplaceable tools in the synthesis of CD derivatives. Several examples of sonochemical selective modification of native α-, β- and γ-CDs have been reported including heterogeneous phase Pd- and Cu-catalysed hydrogenations and couplings. Microwave irradiation has emerged as the technique of choice for the production of highly substituted CD derivatives, CD grafted materials and polymers. Mechanochemical methods have successfully furnished greener, solvent-free syntheses and efficient complexation, while flow microreactors may well improve the repeatability and optimization of critical synthetic protocols.

Laboratory Astrophysics: Enabling Scientific Discovery and Understanding

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kirby, K.

2006-01-01

NASA's Science Strategic Roadmap for Universe Exploration lays out a series of science objectives on a grand scale and discusses the various missions, over a wide range of wavelengths, which will enable discovery. Astronomical spectroscopy is arguably the most powerful tool we have for exploring the Universe. Experimental and theoretical studies in Laboratory Astrophysics convert "hard-won data into scientific understanding". However, the development of instruments with increasingly high spectroscopic resolution demands atomic and molecular data of unprecedented accuracy and completeness. How to meet these needs, in a time of severe budgetary constraints, poses a significant challenge both to NASA, the astronomical observers and model-builders, and the laboratory astrophysics community. I will discuss these issues, together with some recent examples of productive astronomy/lab astro collaborations.

[2+2] cycloaddition of 1,3-dienes by visible light photocatalysis.

PubMed

Hurtley, Anna E; Lu, Zhan; Yoon, Tehshik P

2014-08-18

[2+2] photocycloadditions of 1,3-dienes represent a powerful yet synthetically underutilized class of reactions. We report that visible light absorbing transition metal complexes enable the [2+2] cycloaddition of a diverse range of 1,3-dienes. The ability to use long-wavelength visible light is attractive because these reaction conditions tolerate the presence of sensitive functional groups that might be readily decomposed by the high-energy UVC radiation required for direct photoexcitation of 1,3-dienes. The resulting vinylcyclobutane products are poised for a variety of further diversification reactions, and this method is consequently expected to be powerfully enabling in the synthesis of complex organic targets. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The potential of 3D printing in urological research and patient care.

PubMed

Colaco, Marc; Igel, Daniel A; Atala, Anthony

2018-04-01

3D printing is an evolving technology that enables the creation of unique organic and inorganic structures with high precision. In urology, the technology has demonstrated potential uses in both patient and clinician education as well as in clinical practice. The four major techniques used for 3D printing are inkjet printing, extrusion printing, laser sintering, and stereolithography. Each of these techniques can be applied to the production of models for education and surgical planning, prosthetic construction, and tissue bioengineering. Bioengineering is potentially the most important application of 3D printing, as the ability to produce functional organic constructs might, in the future, enable urologists to replicate and replace abnormal tissues with neo-organs, improving patient survival and quality of life.

Sensor Webs with a Service-Oriented Architecture for On-demand Science Products

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mandl, Daniel; Ungar, Stephen; Ames, Troy; Justice, Chris; Frye, Stuart; Chien, Steve; Tran, Daniel; Cappelaere, Patrice; Derezinsfi, Linda; Paules, Granville;

Disposable photonic integrated circuits for evanescent wave sensors by ultra-high volume roll-to-roll method.

PubMed

Aikio, Sanna; Hiltunen, Jussi; Hiitola-Keinänen, Johanna; Hiltunen, Marianne; Kontturi, Ville; Siitonen, Samuli; Puustinen, Jarkko; Karioja, Pentti

2016-02-08

Flexible photonic integrated circuit technology is an emerging field expanding the usage possibilities of photonics, particularly in sensor applications, by enabling the realization of conformable devices and introduction of new alternative production methods. Here, we demonstrate that disposable polymeric photonic integrated circuit devices can be produced in lengths of hundreds of meters by ultra-high volume roll-to-roll methods on a flexible carrier. Attenuation properties of hundreds of individual devices were measured confirming that waveguides with good and repeatable performance were fabricated. We also demonstrate the applicability of the devices for the evanescent wave sensing of ambient refractive index. The production of integrated photonic devices using ultra-high volume fabrication, in a similar manner as paper is produced, may inherently expand methods of manufacturing low-cost disposable photonic integrated circuits for a wide range of sensor applications.

Proteomic Analysis of Metabolic Responses to Biofuels and Chemicals in Photosynthetic Cyanobacteria.

PubMed

Sun, T; Chen, L; Zhang, W

2017-01-01

Recent progresses in various "omics" technologies have enabled quantitative measurements of biological molecules in a high-throughput manner. Among them, high-throughput proteomics is a rapidly advancing field that offers a new means to quantify metabolic changes at protein level, which has significantly facilitated our understanding of cellular process, such as protein synthesis, posttranslational modifications, and degradation in responding to environmental perturbations. Cyanobacteria are autotrophic prokaryotes that can perform oxygenic photosynthesis and have recently attracted significant attentions as one promising alternative to traditionally biomass-based "microbial cell factories" to produce green fuels and chemicals. However, early studies have shown that the low tolerance to toxic biofuels and chemicals represented one major hurdle for further improving productivity of the cyanobacterial production systems. To address the issue, metabolic responses and their regulation of cyanobacterial cells to toxic end-products need to be defined. In this chapter, we discuss recent progresses in interpreting cyanobacterial responses to biofuels and chemicals using high-throughput proteomics approach, aiming to provide insights and guidelines on how to enhance tolerance and productivity of biofuels or chemicals in the renewable cyanobacteria systems in the future. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The temperature-productivity squeeze: Constraints on brook trout growth along an Appalachian river continuum

USGS Publications Warehouse

Petty, J. Todd; Thorne, David; Huntsman, Brock M.; Mazik, Patricia M.

2014-01-01

We tested the hypothesis that brook trout growth rates are controlled by a complex interaction of food availability, water temperature, and competitor density. We quantified trout diet, growth, and consumption in small headwater tributaries characterized as cold with low food and high trout density, larger tributaries characterized as cold with moderate food and moderate trout density, and large main stems characterized as warm with high food and low trout density. Brook trout consumption was highest in the main stem where diets shifted from insects in headwaters to fishes and crayfish in larger streams. Despite high water temperatures, trout growth rates also were consistently highest in the main stem, likely due to competitively dominant trout monopolizing thermal refugia. Temporal changes in trout density had a direct negative effect on brook trout growth rates. Our results suggest that competition for food constrains brook trout growth in small streams, but access to thermal refugia in productive main stem habitats enables dominant trout to supplement growth at a watershed scale. Brook trout conservation in this region should seek to relieve the “temperature-productivity squeeze,” whereby brook trout productivity is constrained by access to habitats that provide both suitable water temperature and sufficient prey.

Continuous multistep synthesis of perillic acid from limonene by catalytic biofilms under segmented flow.

PubMed

Willrodt, Christian; Halan, Babu; Karthaus, Lisa; Rehdorf, Jessica; Julsing, Mattijs K; Buehler, Katja; Schmid, Andreas

2017-02-01

The efficiency of biocatalytic reactions involving industrially interesting reactants is often constrained by toxification of the applied biocatalyst. Here, we evaluated the combination of biologically and technologically inspired strategies to overcome toxicity-related issues during the multistep oxyfunctionalization of (R)-(+)-limonene to (R)-(+)-perillic acid. Pseudomonas putida GS1 catalyzing selective limonene oxidation via the p-cymene degradation pathway and recombinant Pseudomonas taiwanensis VLB120 were evaluated for continuous perillic acid production. A tubular segmented-flow biofilm reactor was used in order to relieve oxygen limitations and to enable membrane mediated substrate supply as well as efficient in situ product removal. Both P. putida GS1 and P. taiwanensis VLB120 developed a catalytic biofilm in this system. The productivity of wild-type P. putida GS1 encoding the enzymes for limonene bioconversion was highly dependent on the carbon source and reached 34 g L tube -1  day -1 when glycerol was supplied. More than 10-fold lower productivities were reached irrespective of the applied carbon source when the recombinant P. taiwanensis VLB120 harboring p-cymene monooxygenase and p-cumic alcohol dehydrogenase was used as biocatalyst. The technical applicability for preparative perillic acid synthesis in the applied system was verified by purification of perillic acid from the outlet stream using an anion exchanger resin. This concept enabled the multistep production of perillic acid and which might be transferred to other reactions involving volatile reactants and toxic end-products. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 281-290. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Dropwise additive manufacturing of pharmaceutical products for amorphous and self emulsifying drug delivery systems.

PubMed

Içten, Elçin; Purohit, Hitesh S; Wallace, Chelsey; Giridhar, Arun; Taylor, Lynne S; Nagy, Zoltan K; Reklaitis, Gintaras V

2017-05-30

The improvements in healthcare systems and the advent of the precision medicine initiative have created the need to develop more innovative manufacturing methods for the delivery and production of individualized dosing and personalized treatments. In accordance with the changes observed in healthcare systems towards more innovative therapies, this paper presents dropwise additive manufacturing of pharmaceutical products (DAMPP) for small scale, distributed manufacturing of individualized dosing as an alternative to conventional manufacturing methods A dropwise additive manufacturing process for amorphous and self-emulsifying drug delivery systems is reported, which utilizes drop-on-demand printing technology for automated and controlled deposition of melt-based formulations onto inert tablets. The advantages of drop on demand technology include reproducible production of droplets with adjustable sizing and high placement accuracy, which enable production of individualized dosing even for low dose and high potency drugs. Flexible use of different formulations, such as lipid-based formulations, allows enhancement of the solubility of poorly water soluble and highly lipophilic drugs with DAMPP. Here, DAMPP is used to produce solid oral dosage forms from melts of an active pharmaceutical ingredient and a surfactant. The dosage forms are analyzed to show the amorphous nature, self-emulsifying drug delivery system characteristics and dissolution behavior of these formulations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development of the Internet-Based Customer-Oriented Ordering System Framework for Complicated Mechanical Product

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ong, Mingwei; Watanuki, Keiichi

Recently, as consumers gradually prefer buying products that reflect their own personality, there exist some consumers who wish to involve in the product design process. Parallel with the popularization of e-business, many manufacturers have utilized the Internet to promote their products, and some have even built websites that enable consumers to select their desirable product specifications. Nevertheless, this method has not been applied on complicated mechanical product due to the facts that complicated mechanical product has a large number of specifications that inter-relate among one another. In such a case, ordinary consumers who are lacking of design knowledge, are not capable of determining these specifications. In this paper, a prototype framework called Internet-based consumer-oriented product ordering system has been developed in which it enables ordinary consumers to have large freedom in determining complicated mechanical product specifications, and meanwhile ensures that the manufacturing of the determined product is feasible.

Warthog: A MOOSE-Based Application for the Direct Code Coupling of BISON and PROTEUS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McCaskey, Alexander J.; Slattery, Stuart; Billings, Jay Jay

The Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program from the Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy provides a robust toolkit for the modeling and simulation of current and future advanced nuclear reactor designs. This toolkit provides these technologies organized across product lines: two divisions targeted at fuels and end-to-end reactor modeling, and a third for integration, coupling, and high-level workflow management. The Fuels Product Line and the Reactor Product line provide advanced computational technologies that serve each respective field well, however, their current lack of integration presents a major impediment to future improvements of simulation solution fidelity. Theremore » is a desire for the capability to mix and match tools across Product Lines in an effort to utilize the best from both to improve NEAMS modeling and simulation technologies. This report details a new effort to provide this Product Line interoperability through the development of a new application called Warthog. This application couples the BISON Fuel Performance application from the Fuels Product Line and the PROTEUS Core Neutronics application from the Reactors Product Line in an effort to utilize the best from all parts of the NEAMS toolkit and improve overall solution fidelity of nuclear fuel simulations. To achieve this, Warthog leverages as much prior work from the NEAMS program as possible, and in doing so, enables interoperability between the disparate MOOSE and SHARP frameworks, and the libMesh and MOAB mesh data formats. This report describes this work in full. We begin with a detailed look at the individual NEAMS framework technologies used and developed in the various Product Lines, and the current status of their interoperability. We then introduce the Warthog application: its overall architecture and the ways it leverages the best existing tools from across the NEAMS toolkit to enable BISON-PROTEUS integration. Furthermore, we show how Warthog leverages a tool known as DataTransferKit to seamlessly enable the transfer for solution data between disparate frameworks and mesh formats. To end, we demonstrate tests for the direct software coupling of BISON and PROTEUS using Warthog, and discuss current impediments and solutions to the construction of physically realistic input models for this coupled BISON-PROTEUS system.« less

The potential of C4 grasses for cellulosic biofuel production

PubMed Central

van der Weijde, Tim; Alvim Kamei, Claire L.; Torres, Andres F.; Vermerris, Wilfred; Dolstra, Oene; Visser, Richard G. F.; Trindade, Luisa M.

2013-01-01

With the advent of biorefinery technologies enabling plant biomass to be processed into biofuel, many researchers set out to study and improve candidate biomass crops. Many of these candidates are C4 grasses, characterized by a high productivity and resource use efficiency. In this review the potential of five C4 grasses as lignocellulosic feedstock for biofuel production is discussed. These include three important field crops—maize, sugarcane and sorghum—and two undomesticated perennial energy grasses—miscanthus and switchgrass. Although all these grasses are high yielding, they produce different products. While miscanthus and switchgrass are exploited exclusively for lignocellulosic biomass, maize, sorghum, and sugarcane are dual-purpose crops. It is unlikely that all the prerequisites for the sustainable and economic production of biomass for a global cellulosic biofuel industry will be fulfilled by a single crop. High and stable yields of lignocellulose are required in diverse environments worldwide, to sustain a year-round production of biofuel. A high resource use efficiency is indispensable to allow cultivation with minimal inputs of nutrients and water and the exploitation of marginal soils for biomass production. Finally, the lignocellulose composition of the feedstock should be optimized to allow its efficient conversion into biofuel and other by-products. Breeding for these objectives should encompass diverse crops, to meet the demands of local biorefineries and provide adaptability to different environments. Collectively, these C4 grasses are likely to play a central role in the supply of lignocellulose for the cellulosic ethanol industry. Moreover, as these species are evolutionary closely related, advances in each of these crops will expedite improvements in the other crops. This review aims to provide an overview of their potential, prospects and research needs as lignocellulose feedstocks for the commercial production of biofuel. PMID:23653628

Modular, Reconfigurable, High-Energy Systems Stepping Stones

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howell, Joe T.; Carrington, Connie K.; Mankins, John C.

2005-01-01

Modular, Reconfigurable, High-Energy Systems are Stepping Stones to provide capabilities for energy-rich infrastructure strategically located in space to support a variety of exploration scenarios. Abundant renewable energy at lunar or L1 locations could support propellant production and storage in refueling scenarios that enable affordable exploration. Renewable energy platforms in geosynchronous Earth orbits can collect and transmit power to satellites, or to Earth-surface locations. Energy-rich space technologies also enable the use of electric-powered propulsion systems that could efficiently deliver cargo and exploration facilities to remote locations. A first step to an energy-rich space infrastructure is a 100-kWe class solar-powered platform in Earth orbit. The platform would utilize advanced technologies in solar power collection and generation, power management and distribution, thermal management, and electric propulsion. It would also provide a power-rich free-flying platform to demonstrate in space a portfolio of technology flight experiments. This paper presents a preliminary design concept for a 100-kWe solar-powered satellite with the capability to flight-demonstrate a variety of payload experiments and to utilize electric propulsion. State-of-the-art solar concentrators, highly efficient multi-junction solar cells, integrated thermal management on the arrays, and innovative deployable structure design and packaging make the 100-kW satellite feasible for launch on one existing launch vehicle. Higher voltage arrays and power management and distribution (PMAD) systems reduce or eliminate the need for massive power converters, and could enable direct- drive of high-voltage solar electric thrusters.

Producing Cochrane systematic reviews-a qualitative study of current approaches and opportunities for innovation and improvement.

PubMed

Turner, Tari; Green, Sally; Tovey, David; McDonald, Steve; Soares-Weiser, Karla; Pestridge, Charlotte; Elliott, Julian

2017-08-01

Producing high-quality, relevant systematic reviews and keeping them up to date is challenging. Cochrane is a leading provider of systematic reviews in health. For Cochrane to continue to contribute to improvements in heath, Cochrane Reviews must be rigorous, reliable and up to date. We aimed to explore existing models of Cochrane Review production and emerging opportunities to improve the efficiency and sustainability of these processes. To inform discussions about how to best achieve this, we conducted 26 interviews and an online survey with 106 respondents. Respondents highlighted the importance and challenge of creating reliable, timely systematic reviews. They described the challenges and opportunities presented by current production models, and they shared what they are doing to improve review production. They particularly highlighted significant challenges with increasing complexity of review methods; difficulty keeping authors on board and on track; and the length of time required to complete the process. Strong themes emerged about the roles of authors and Review Groups, the central actors in the review production process. The results suggest that improvements to Cochrane's systematic review production models could come from improving clarity of roles and expectations, ensuring continuity and consistency of input, enabling active management of the review process, centralising some review production steps; breaking reviews into smaller "chunks", and improving approaches to building capacity of and sharing information between authors and Review Groups. Respondents noted the important role new technologies have to play in enabling these improvements. The findings of this study will inform the development of new Cochrane Review production models and may provide valuable data for other systematic review producers as they consider how best to produce rigorous, reliable, up-to-date reviews.

Systems metabolic engineering design: Fatty acid production as an emerging case study

PubMed Central

Tee, Ting Wei; Chowdhury, Anupam; Maranas, Costas D; Shanks, Jacqueline V

2014-01-01

Increasing demand for petroleum has stimulated industry to develop sustainable production of chemicals and biofuels using microbial cell factories. Fatty acids of chain lengths from C6 to C16 are propitious intermediates for the catalytic synthesis of industrial chemicals and diesel-like biofuels. The abundance of genetic information available for Escherichia coli and specifically, fatty acid metabolism in E. coli, supports this bacterium as a promising host for engineering a biocatalyst for the microbial production of fatty acids. Recent successes rooted in different features of systems metabolic engineering in the strain design of high-yielding medium chain fatty acid producing E. coli strains provide an emerging case study of design methods for effective strain design. Classical metabolic engineering and synthetic biology approaches enabled different and distinct design paths towards a high-yielding strain. Here we highlight a rational strain design process in systems biology, an integrated computational and experimental approach for carboxylic acid production, as an alternative method. Additional challenges inherent in achieving an optimal strain for commercialization of medium chain-length fatty acids will likely require a collection of strategies from systems metabolic engineering. Not only will the continued advancement in systems metabolic engineering result in these highly productive strains more quickly, this knowledge will extend more rapidly the carboxylic acid platform to the microbial production of carboxylic acids with alternate chain-lengths and functionalities. PMID:24481660

Systems metabolic engineering design: fatty acid production as an emerging case study.

PubMed

Tee, Ting Wei; Chowdhury, Anupam; Maranas, Costas D; Shanks, Jacqueline V

2014-05-01

Increasing demand for petroleum has stimulated industry to develop sustainable production of chemicals and biofuels using microbial cell factories. Fatty acids of chain lengths from C6 to C16 are propitious intermediates for the catalytic synthesis of industrial chemicals and diesel-like biofuels. The abundance of genetic information available for Escherichia coli and specifically, fatty acid metabolism in E. coli, supports this bacterium as a promising host for engineering a biocatalyst for the microbial production of fatty acids. Recent successes rooted in different features of systems metabolic engineering in the strain design of high-yielding medium chain fatty acid producing E. coli strains provide an emerging case study of design methods for effective strain design. Classical metabolic engineering and synthetic biology approaches enabled different and distinct design paths towards a high-yielding strain. Here we highlight a rational strain design process in systems biology, an integrated computational and experimental approach for carboxylic acid production, as an alternative method. Additional challenges inherent in achieving an optimal strain for commercialization of medium chain-length fatty acids will likely require a collection of strategies from systems metabolic engineering. Not only will the continued advancement in systems metabolic engineering result in these highly productive strains more quickly, this knowledge will extend more rapidly the carboxylic acid platform to the microbial production of carboxylic acids with alternate chain-lengths and functionalities. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Biotechnological advances towards an enhanced peroxidase production in Pichia pastoris.

PubMed

Krainer, Florian W; Gerstmann, Michaela A; Darnhofer, Barbara; Birner-Gruenberger, Ruth; Glieder, Anton

2016-09-10

Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) is a high-demand enzyme for applications in diagnostics, bioremediation, biocatalysis and medicine. Current HRP preparations are isolated from horseradish roots as mixtures of biochemically diverse isoenzymes. Thus, there is a strong need for a recombinant production process enabling a steady supply with enzyme preparations of consistent high quality. However, most current recombinant production systems are limited at titers in the low mg/L range. In this study, we used the well-known yeast Pichia pastoris as host for recombinant HRP production. To enhance recombinant enzyme titers we systematically evaluated engineering approaches on the secretion process, coproduction of helper proteins, and compared expression from the strong methanol-inducible PAOX1 promoter, the strong constitutive PGAP promoter, and a novel bidirectional promoter PHTX1. Ultimately, coproduction of HRP and active Hac1 under PHTX1 control yielded a recombinant HRP titer of 132mg/L after 56h of cultivation in a methanol-independent and easy-to-do bioreactor cultivation process. With regard to the many versatile applications for HRP, the establishment of a microbial host system suitable for efficient recombinant HRP production was highly overdue. The novel HRP production platform in P. pastoris presented in this study sets a new benchmark for this medically relevant enzyme. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Hubble Space Telescope Frontier Fields Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koekemoer, Anton M.; Mack, Jennifer; Lotz, Jennifer M.; Borncamp, David; Khandrika, Harish G.; Lucas, Ray A.; Martlin, Catherine; Porterfield, Blair; Sunnquist, Ben; Anderson, Jay; Avila, Roberto J.; Barker, Elizabeth A.; Grogin, Norman A.; Gunning, Heather C.; Hilbert, Bryan; Ogaz, Sara; Robberto, Massimo; Sembach, Kenneth; Flanagan, Kathryn; Mountain, Matt

2017-08-01

The Hubble Space Telescope Frontier Fields program is a large Director's Discretionary program of 840 orbits, to obtain ultra-deep observations of six strong lensing clusters of galaxies, together with parallel deep blank fields, making use of the strong lensing amplification by these clusters of distant background galaxies to detect the faintest galaxies currently observable in the high-redshift universe. The entire program has now completed successfully for all 6 clusters, namely Abell 2744, Abell S1063, Abell 370, MACS J0416.1-2403, MACS J0717.5+3745 and MACS J1149.5+2223,. Each of these was observed over two epochs, to a total depth of 140 orbits on the main cluster and an associated parallel field, obtaining images in ACS (F435W, F606W, F814W) and WFC3/IR (F105W, F125W, F140W, F160W) on both the main cluster and the parallel field in all cases. Full sets of high-level science products have been generated for all these clusters by the team at STScI, including cumulative-depth data releases during each epoch, as well as full-depth releases after the completion of each epoch. These products include all the full-depth distortion-corrected drizzled mosaics and associated products for each cluster, which are science-ready to facilitate the construction of lensing models as well as enabling a wide range of other science projects. Many improvements beyond default calibration for ACS and WFC3/IR are implemented in these data products, including corrections for persistence, time-variable sky, and low-level dark current residuals, as well as improvements in astrometric alignment to achieve milliarcsecond-level accuracy. The full set of resulting high-level science products and mosaics are publicly delivered to the community via the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) to enable the widest scientific use of these data, as well as ensuring a public legacy dataset of the highest possible quality that is of lasting value to the entire community.

Advanced Microelectronics Technologies for Future Small Satellite Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alkalai, Leon

1999-01-01

Future small satellite systems for both Earth observation as well as deep-space exploration are greatly enabled by the technological advances in deep sub-micron microelectronics technologies. Whereas these technological advances are being fueled by the commercial (non-space) industries, more recently there has been an exciting new synergism evolving between the two otherwise disjointed markets. In other words, both the commercial and space industries are enabled by advances in low-power, highly integrated, miniaturized (low-volume), lightweight, and reliable real-time embedded systems. Recent announcements by commercial semiconductor manufacturers to introduce Silicon On Insulator (SOI) technology into their commercial product lines is driven by the need for high-performance low-power integrated devices. Moreover, SOI has been the technology of choice for many space semiconductor manufacturers where radiation requirements are critical. This technology has inherent radiation latch-up immunity built into the process, which makes it very attractive to space applications. In this paper, we describe the advanced microelectronics and avionics technologies under development by NASA's Deep Space Systems Technology Program (also known as X2000). These technologies are of significant benefit to both the commercial satellite as well as the deep-space and Earth orbiting science missions. Such a synergistic technology roadmap may truly enable quick turn-around, low-cost, and highly capable small satellite systems for both Earth observation as well as deep-space missions.

Tandem catalysis for the production of alkyl lactates from ketohexoses at moderate temperatures

DOE PAGES

Orazov, Marat; Davis, Mark E.

2015-09-08

Retro-aldol reactions have been implicated as the limiting steps in catalytic routes to convert biomass-derived hexoses and pentoses into valuable C2, C3, and C4 products such as glycolic acid, lactic acid, 2-hydroxy-3-butenoic acid, 2,4-dihydroxybutanoic acid, and alkyl esters thereof. Due to a lack of efficient retro-aldol catalysts, most previous investigations of catalytic pathways involving these reactions were conducted at high temperatures (≥160 °C). Here, we report moderate-temperature (around 100 °C) retro-aldol reactions of various hexoses in aqueous and alcoholic media with catalysts traditionally known for their capacity to catalyze 1,2-intramolecular carbon shift (1,2-CS) reactions of aldoses, i.e., various molybdenum oxidemore » and molybdate species, nickel(II) diamine complexes, alkali-exchanged stannosilicate molecular sieves, and amorphous TiO2–SiO2 coprecipitates. Solid Lewis acid cocatalysts that are known to catalyze 1,2-intramolecular hydride shift (1,2-HS) reactions that enable the formation of α-hydroxy carboxylic acids from tetroses, trioses, and glycolaldehyde, but cannot readily catalyze retro-aldol reactions of hexoses and pentoses at these moderate temperatures, are shown to be compatible with the aforementioned retro-aldol catalysts. The combination of a distinct retro-aldol catalyst with a 1,2-HS catalyst enables lactic acid and alkyl lactate formation from ketohexoses at moderate temperatures (around 100 °C), with yields comparable to best-reported chemocatalytic examples at high temperature conditions (≥160 °C). The use of moderate temperatures enables numerous desirable features such as lower pressure and significantly less catalyst deactivation.« less

Directed combinatorial mutagenesis of Escherichia coli for complex phenotype engineering

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Rongming; Liang, Liya; Garst, Andrew D.

Strain engineering for industrial production requires a targeted improvement of multiple complex traits, which range from pathway flux to tolerance to mixed sugar utilization. Here, we report the use of an iterative CRISPR EnAbled Trackable genome Engineering (iCREATE) method to engineer rapid glucose and xylose co-consumption and tolerance to hydrolysate inhibitors in E. coli. Deep mutagenesis libraries were rationally designed, constructed, and screened to target ~40,000 mutations across 30 genes. These libraries included global and high-level regulators that regulate global gene expression, transcription factors that play important roles in genome-level transcription, enzymes that function in the sugar transport system, NAD(P)Hmore » metabolism, and the aldehyde reduction system. Specific mutants that conferred increased growth in mixed sugars and hydrolysate tolerance conditions were isolated, confirmed, and evaluated for changes in genome-wide expression levels. As a result, we tested the strain with positive combinatorial mutations for 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3HP) production under high furfural and high acetate hydrolysate fermentation, which demonstrated a 7- and 8-fold increase in 3HP productivity relative to the parent strain, respectively.« less

Directed combinatorial mutagenesis of Escherichia coli for complex phenotype engineering

DOE PAGES

Liu, Rongming; Liang, Liya; Garst, Andrew D.; ...

2018-03-29

Strain engineering for industrial production requires a targeted improvement of multiple complex traits, which range from pathway flux to tolerance to mixed sugar utilization. Here, we report the use of an iterative CRISPR EnAbled Trackable genome Engineering (iCREATE) method to engineer rapid glucose and xylose co-consumption and tolerance to hydrolysate inhibitors in E. coli. Deep mutagenesis libraries were rationally designed, constructed, and screened to target ~40,000 mutations across 30 genes. These libraries included global and high-level regulators that regulate global gene expression, transcription factors that play important roles in genome-level transcription, enzymes that function in the sugar transport system, NAD(P)Hmore » metabolism, and the aldehyde reduction system. Specific mutants that conferred increased growth in mixed sugars and hydrolysate tolerance conditions were isolated, confirmed, and evaluated for changes in genome-wide expression levels. As a result, we tested the strain with positive combinatorial mutations for 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3HP) production under high furfural and high acetate hydrolysate fermentation, which demonstrated a 7- and 8-fold increase in 3HP productivity relative to the parent strain, respectively.« less

Advanced light source technologies that enable high-volume manufacturing of DUV lithography extensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cacouris, Theodore; Rao, Rajasekhar; Rokitski, Rostislav; Jiang, Rui; Melchior, John; Burfeindt, Bernd; O'Brien, Kevin

2012-03-01

Deep UV (DUV) lithography is being applied to pattern increasingly finer geometries, leading to solutions like double- and multiple-patterning. Such process complexities lead to higher costs due to the increasing number of steps required to produce the desired results. One of the consequences is that the lithography equipment needs to provide higher operating efficiencies to minimize the cost increases, especially for producers of memory devices that experience a rapid decline in sales prices of these products over time. In addition to having introduced higher power 193nm light sources to enable higher throughput, we previously described technologies that also enable: higher tool availability via advanced discharge chamber gas management algorithms; improved process monitoring via enhanced on-board beam metrology; and increased depth of focus (DOF) via light source bandwidth modulation. In this paper we will report on the field performance of these technologies with data that supports the desired improvements in on-wafer performance and operational efficiencies.

Antibiotic free selection for the high level biosynthesis of a silk-elastin-like protein

PubMed Central

Barroca, Mário; Rodrigues, Paulo; Sobral, Rómulo; Costa, M. Manuela R.; Chaves, Susana R.; Machado, Raul; Casal, Margarida; Collins, Tony

2016-01-01

Silk-elastin-like proteins (SELPs) are a family of genetically engineered recombinant protein polymers exhibiting mechanical and biological properties suited for a wide range of applications in the biomedicine and materials fields. They are being explored as the next generation of biomaterials but low productivities and use of antibiotics during production undermine their economic viability and safety. We have developed an industrially relevant, scalable, fed-batch process for the high level production of a novel SELP in E. coli in which the commonly used antibiotic selection marker of the expression vector is exchanged for a post segregational suicide system, the separate-component-stabilisation system (SCS). SCS significantly augments SELP productivity but also enhances the product safety profile and reduces process costs by eliminating the use of antibiotics. Plasmid content increased following induction but no significant differences in plasmid levels were discerned when using SCS or the antibiotic selection markers under the controlled fed-batch conditions employed. It is suggested that the absence of competing plasmid-free cells improves host cell viability and enables increased productivity with SCS. With the process developed, 12.8 g L−1 purified SELP was obtained, this is the highest SELP productivity reported to date and clearly demonstrates the commercial viability of these promising polymers. PMID:27982135

A quantum leap into the IED age

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Patterson, R.C.

1996-11-01

The integration of pattern recognition, artificial intelligence and advanced communication technologies in utility substation IED`s (Intelligent Electronic Devices) has opened the door to practical and cost effective automation of power distribution systems. A major driver for the application of these new technologies has been the research directed toward the detection of high-impedance faults. The commercial products which embody these complex detection functions have already expanded to include most of the protection, control, and monitoring required at a utility substation. These new Super-IED`s enable major utility initiatives, such as power quality management, improved public safety, operation and maintenance productivity, and powermore » system automation.« less

Design and performance of a production-worthy excimer-laser-based stepper

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Unger, Robert; Sparkes, Christopher; Disessa, Peter A.; Elliott, David J.

1992-06-01

Excimer-laser-based steppers have matured to a production-worthy state. Widefield high-NA lenses have been developed and characterized for imaging down to 0.35 micron and below. Excimer lasers have attained practical levels of performance capability and stability, reliability, safety, and operating cost. Excimer stepper system integration and control issues such as focus, exposure, and overlay stability have been addressed. Enabling support technologies -- resist systems, resist processing, metrology and conventional mask making -- continue to progress and are becoming available. This paper discusses specific excimer stepper design challenges, and presents characterization data from several field installations of XLSTM deep-UV steppers configured with an advanced lens design.

Production yield of rare-earth ions implanted into an optical crystal

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kornher, Thomas, E-mail: t.kornher@physik.uni-stuttgart.de; Xia, Kangwei; Kolesov, Roman

2016-02-01

Rare-earth (RE) ions doped into desired locations of optical crystals might enable a range of novel integrated photonic devices for quantum applications. With this aim, we have investigated the production yield of cerium and praseodymium by means of ion implantation. As a measure, the collected fluorescence intensity from both implanted samples and single centers was used. With a tailored annealing procedure for cerium, a yield up to 53% was estimated. Praseodymium yield amounts up to 91%. Such high implantation yield indicates a feasibility of creation of nanopatterned rare-earth doping and suggests strong potential of RE species for on-chip photonic devices.

Laser penetration spike welding: a welding tool enabling novel process and design opportunities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dijken, Durandus K.; Hoving, Willem; De Hosson, J. Th. M.

2002-06-01

A novel method for laser welding for sheet metal. is presented. This laser spike welding method is capable of bridging large gaps between sheet metal plates. Novel constructions can be designed and manufactured. Examples are light weight metal epoxy multi-layers and constructions having additional strength with respect to rigidity and impact resistance. Its capability to bridge large gaps allows higher dimensional tolerances in production. The required laser systems are commercially available and are easily implemented in existing production lines. The lasers are highly reliable, the resulting spike welds are quickly realized and the cost price per weld is very low.

Identification of species- and tissue-specific proteins using proteomic strategy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chernukha, I. M.; Vostrikova, N. L.; Kovalev, L. I.; Shishkin, S. S.; Kovaleva, M. A.; Manukhin, Y. S.

2017-09-01

Proteomic technologies have proven to be very effective for detecting biochemical changes in meat products, such as changes in tissue- and species-specific proteins. In the tissues of cattle, pig, horse and camel M. longissimus dorsi both tissue- and species specific proteins were detected using two dimensional electrophoresis. Species-specific isoforms of several muscle proteins were also identified. The identified and described proteins of cattle, pig, horse and camel skeletal muscles (including mass spectra of the tryptic peptides) were added to the national free access database “Muscle organ proteomics”. This research has enabled the development of new highly sensitive technologies for meat product quality control against food fraud.

Earth Science System of the Future: Observing, Processing, and Delivering Data Products Directly to Users

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crisp, David; Komar, George (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Advancement of our predictive capabilities will require new scientific knowledge, improvement of our modeling capabilities, and new observation strategies to generate the complex data sets needed by coupled modeling networks. New observation strategies must support remote sensing from a variety of vantage points and will include "sensorwebs" of small satellites in low Earth orbit, large aperture sensors in Geostationary orbits, and sentinel satellites at L1 and L2 to provide day/night views of the entire globe. Onboard data processing and high speed computing and communications will enable near real-time tailoring and delivery of information products (i.e., predictions) directly to users.

Productization and Commercialization of IT-Enabled Higher Education in Computer Science: A Systematic Literature Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kankaanpää, Irja; Isomäki, Hannakaisa

2013-01-01

This paper reviews research literature on the production and commercialization of IT-enabled higher education in computer science. Systematic literature review (SLR) was carried out in order to find out to what extent this area has been studied, more specifically how much it has been studied and to what detail. The results of this paper make a…

The Drosophila indirect flight muscle myosin heavy chain isoform is insufficient to transform the jump muscle into a highly stretch-activated muscle type

PubMed Central

Zhao, Cuiping

2017-01-01

Stretch activation (SA) is a delayed increase in force that enables high power and efficiency from a cyclically contracting muscle. SA exists in various degrees in almost all muscle types. In Drosophila, the indirect flight muscle (IFM) displays exceptionally high SA force production (FSA), whereas the jump muscle produces only minimal FSA. We previously found that expressing an embryonic (EMB) myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoform in the jump muscle transforms it into a moderately SA muscle type and enables positive cyclical power generation. To investigate whether variation in MHC isoforms is sufficient to produce even higher FSA, we substituted the IFM MHC isoform (IFI) into the jump muscle. Surprisingly, we found that IFI only caused a 1.7-fold increase in FSA, less than half the increase previously observed with EMB, and only at a high Pi concentration, 16 mM. This IFI-induced FSA is much less than what occurs in IFM, relative to isometric tension, and did not enable positive cyclical power generation by the jump muscle. Both isometric tension and FSA of control fibers decreased with increasing Pi concentration. However, for IFI-expressing fibers, only isometric tension decreased. The rate of FSA generation was ~1.5-fold faster for IFI fibers than control fibers, and both rates were Pi dependent. We conclude that MHC isoforms can alter FSA and hence cyclical power generation but that isoforms can only endow a muscle type with moderate FSA. Highly SA muscle types, such as IFM, likely use a different or additional mechanism. PMID:27881413

Short Enantioselective Total Synthesis of Tatanan A and 3‐epi‐Tatanan A Using Assembly‐Line Synthesis

PubMed Central

Noble, Adam; Roesner, Stefan

2016-01-01

Abstract Short and highly stereoselective total syntheses of the sesquilignan natural product tatanan A and its C3 epimer are described. An assembly‐line synthesis approach, using iterative lithiation–borylation reactions, was applied to install the three contiguous stereocenters with high enantio‐ and diastereoselectivity. One of the stereocenters was installed using a configurationally labile lithiated primary benzyl benzoate, resulting in high levels of substrate‐controlled (undesired) diastereoselectivity. However, reversal of selectivity was achieved by using a novel diastereoselective Matteson homologation. Stereospecific alkynylation of a hindered secondary benzylic boronic ester enabled completion of the synthesis in a total of eight steps. PMID:27865037

Novel process windows for enabling, accelerating, and uplifting flow chemistry.

PubMed

Hessel, Volker; Kralisch, Dana; Kockmann, Norbert; Noël, Timothy; Wang, Qi

2013-05-01

Novel Process Windows make use of process conditions that are far from conventional practices. This involves the use of high temperatures, high pressures, high concentrations (solvent-free), new chemical transformations, explosive conditions, and process simplification and integration to boost synthetic chemistry on both the laboratory and production scale. Such harsh reaction conditions can be safely reached in microstructured reactors due to their excellent transport intensification properties. This Review discusses the different routes towards Novel Process Windows and provides several examples for each route grouped into different classes of chemical and process-design intensification. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A high-performance liquid chromatography-based radiometric assay for acyl-CoA:alcohol transacylase from jojoba.

PubMed

Garver, W S; Kemp, J D; Kuehn, G D

1992-12-01

Acyl-CoA:alcohol transacylase catalyzes the final step in the biosynthesis of storage liquid wax esters from acyl-CoA fatty acids and fatty alcohols in a limited number of microbes, algae, and Simmondsia chinensis Link (jojoba). An improved and automated method of enzyme assay for this catalyst from cotyledons of jojoba is described. The assay method uses reversed-phase C18 high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to separate the labeled C30:1 liquid wax product, [14C]-dodecanyl-octadecenoate, from the unreacted substrate, [14C]octadecenoyl-CoA (oleyl-CoA), and other components produced from enzymes present in the crude homogenate of jojoba cotyledons, including [14C]-octadecenoic acid (oleic acid) and [14C]octadecenol (oleyol). Methods are also described for microscale chemical synthesis in one vessel of 14C-radiolabeled substrates and products for the transacylase. These labeled reagents are required to confirm the HPLC separations of reaction products. The radioactive components are quantitated using an on-line flow-through scintillation detector enabling sensitive and precise analysis of the reaction products.

Controllable Edge Oxidation and Bubbling Exfoliation Enable the Fabrication of High Quality Water Dispersible Graphene

PubMed Central

Tian, Suyun; Sun, Jing; Yang, Siwei; He, Peng; Wang, Gang; Di, Zengfeng; Ding, Guqiao; Xie, Xiaoming; Jiang, Mianheng

2016-01-01

Despite significant progresses made on mass production of chemically exfoliated graphene, the quality, cost and environmental friendliness remain major challenges for its market penetration. Here, we present a fast and green exfoliation strategy for large scale production of high quality water dispersible few layer graphene through a controllable edge oxidation and localized gas bubbling process. Mild edge oxidation guarantees that the pristine sp2 lattice is largely intact and the edges are functionalized with hydrophilic groups, giving rise to high conductivity and good water dispersibility at the same time. The aqueous concentration can be as high as 5.0 mg mL−1, which is an order of magnitude higher than previously reports. The water soluble graphene can be directly spray-coated on various substrates, and the back-gated field effect transistor give hole and electron mobility of ~496 and ~676 cm2 V−1 s−1, respectively. These results achieved are expected to expedite various applications of graphene. PMID:27666869

Controllable Edge Oxidation and Bubbling Exfoliation Enable the Fabrication of High Quality Water Dispersible Graphene.

PubMed

Tian, Suyun; Sun, Jing; Yang, Siwei; He, Peng; Wang, Gang; Di, Zengfeng; Ding, Guqiao; Xie, Xiaoming; Jiang, Mianheng

2016-09-26

Despite significant progresses made on mass production of chemically exfoliated graphene, the quality, cost and environmental friendliness remain major challenges for its market penetration. Here, we present a fast and green exfoliation strategy for large scale production of high quality water dispersible few layer graphene through a controllable edge oxidation and localized gas bubbling process. Mild edge oxidation guarantees that the pristine sp 2 lattice is largely intact and the edges are functionalized with hydrophilic groups, giving rise to high conductivity and good water dispersibility at the same time. The aqueous concentration can be as high as 5.0 mg mL -1 , which is an order of magnitude higher than previously reports. The water soluble graphene can be directly spray-coated on various substrates, and the back-gated field effect transistor give hole and electron mobility of ~496 and ~676 cm 2 V -1 s -1 , respectively. These results achieved are expected to expedite various applications of graphene.

The actin multigene family and livestock speciation using the polymerase chain reaction.

PubMed

Fairbrother, K S; Hopwood, A J; Lockley, A K; Bardsley, R G

1998-01-01

Actins constitute a family of highly-conserved multifunctional intracellular proteins, best known as myofibrillar components in striated muscle fibres. Most vertebrate genomes contain numerous actin genes with high sequence homology in protein coding regions but considerable variability in intron number and sizes. This genetic diversity can be utilised for livestock speciation purposes. The high sequence conservation has enabled a single pair of oligonucleotides to be used to prime the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with DNA extracted from all animals so far studied. Multiple amplification products were obtained which on gel electrophoresis constituted characteristic species-specific 'fingerprints'. The patterns were reproducible, did not vary between individuals of the same breed or between different breeds within a species, and could be generated even from heat-processed muscle held at 120 degrees C for one hour. Given the capacity of PCR to amplify relatively short sequences in highly-degraded DNA, this approach may be suitable for authentication of processed meat products.

Controllable Edge Oxidation and Bubbling Exfoliation Enable the Fabrication of High Quality Water Dispersible Graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, Suyun; Sun, Jing; Yang, Siwei; He, Peng; Wang, Gang; di, Zengfeng; Ding, Guqiao; Xie, Xiaoming; Jiang, Mianheng

2016-09-01

Despite significant progresses made on mass production of chemically exfoliated graphene, the quality, cost and environmental friendliness remain major challenges for its market penetration. Here, we present a fast and green exfoliation strategy for large scale production of high quality water dispersible few layer graphene through a controllable edge oxidation and localized gas bubbling process. Mild edge oxidation guarantees that the pristine sp2 lattice is largely intact and the edges are functionalized with hydrophilic groups, giving rise to high conductivity and good water dispersibility at the same time. The aqueous concentration can be as high as 5.0 mg mL-1, which is an order of magnitude higher than previously reports. The water soluble graphene can be directly spray-coated on various substrates, and the back-gated field effect transistor give hole and electron mobility of ~496 and ~676 cm2 V-1 s-1, respectively. These results achieved are expected to expedite various applications of graphene.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) for optical nanofabrication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maula, Jarmo

2010-02-01

ALD is currently one of the most rapidly developing fields of thin film technology. Presentation gives an overview of ALD technology for optical film deposition, highlighting benefits, drawbacks and peculiarities of the ALD, especially compared to PVD. Viewpoint is practical, based on experience gained from tens of different applications over the last few decades. ALD is not competing, but enabling technology to provide coatings, which are difficult for traditional technologies. Examples of such cases are films inside of tubes; double side deposition on the substrate; large area accurate coatings; decorative coating for 3D parts; conformal coatings on high aspect ratio surfaces or inside porous structures. Novel materials can be easily engineered by making modifications on molecular level. ALD coats large surfaces effectively and fast. Opposite to common view, it actually provides high throughput (coated area/time), when used properly with a batch and/or in-line tools. It is possible to use ALD for many micrometers thick films or even produce thin parts with competitive cost. Besides optical films ALD provides large variety of features for nanofabrication. For example pin hole free films for passivation and barrier applications and best available films for conformal coatings like planarization or to improve surface smoothness. High deposition repeatability even with subnanometer film structures helps fabrication. ALD enters to production mostly through new products, not yet existing on the market and so the application IP field is reasonably open. ALD is an enabling, mature technology to fabricate novel optical materials and to open pathways for new applications.

In situ synthesis of Cu-BTC (HKUST-1) in macro-/mesoporous silica monoliths for continuous flow catalysis.

PubMed

Sachse, Alexander; Ameloot, Rob; Coq, Bernard; Fajula, François; Coasne, Benoît; De Vos, Dirk; Galarneau, Anne

2012-05-16

The metal-organic framework Cu-BTC has been successfully synthesized as nanoparticles inside the mesopores of silica monoliths featuring a homogeneous macropore network enabling the use of Cu-BTC for continuous flow applications in liquid phase with low pressure drop. High productivity was reached with this catalyst for the Friedländer reaction. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012

Changes in antigen-specific T cell number and function during oral desensitization in cow’s milk allergy enabled with omalizumab

PubMed Central

Bedoret, D; Singh, A K; Shaw, V; Hoyte, E G; Hamilton, R; DeKruyff, R H; Schneider, L C; Nadeau, K C; Umetsu, D T

2012-01-01

Food allergy is a major public health problem for which there is no effective treatment. We examined the immunological changes that occurred in a group of children with significant cow’s milk allergy undergoing a novel and rapid high dose oral desensitization protocol enabled by treatment with omalizumab (anti-IgE mAb). Within a week of treatment, the CD4+ T cell response to milk was nearly eliminated, suggesting anergy in, or deletion of, milk-specific CD4+ T cells. Over the following three months while the subjects remained on high doses of daily oral milk, the CD4+ T cell response returned, characterized by a shift from IL-4 to IFN-γ production. Desensitization was also associated with reduction in milk-specific IgE and a 15-fold increase in milk-specific IgG4. These studies suggest that high dose oral allergen desensitization may be associated with deletion of allergen-specific T cells, without the apparent development of allergen-specific Foxp3+ regulatory T cells. PMID:22318492

Hi-Plex for Simple, Accurate, and Cost-Effective Amplicon-based Targeted DNA Sequencing.

PubMed

Pope, Bernard J; Hammet, Fleur; Nguyen-Dumont, Tu; Park, Daniel J

2018-01-01

Hi-Plex is a suite of methods to enable simple, accurate, and cost-effective highly multiplex PCR-based targeted sequencing (Nguyen-Dumont et al., Biotechniques 58:33-36, 2015). At its core is the principle of using gene-specific primers (GSPs) to "seed" (or target) the reaction and universal primers to "drive" the majority of the reaction. In this manner, effects on amplification efficiencies across the target amplicons can, to a large extent, be restricted to early seeding cycles. Product sizes are defined within a relatively narrow range to enable high-specificity size selection, replication uniformity across target sites (including in the context of fragmented input DNA such as that derived from fixed tumor specimens (Nguyen-Dumont et al., Biotechniques 55:69-74, 2013; Nguyen-Dumont et al., Anal Biochem 470:48-51, 2015), and application of high-specificity genetic variant calling algorithms (Pope et al., Source Code Biol Med 9:3, 2014; Park et al., BMC Bioinformatics 17:165, 2016). Hi-Plex offers a streamlined workflow that is suitable for testing large numbers of specimens without the need for automation.

Phospholipase C mediated Suppression of Dark Noise Enables Single Photon Detection in Drosophila Photoreceptors

PubMed Central

Katz, Ben; Minke, Baruch

2012-01-01

Drosophila photoreceptor cells use the ubiquitous G-protein-mediated phospholipase C (PLC) cascade to achieve ultimate single photon sensitivity. This is manifested in the single photon responses (quantum bumps). In photoreceptor cells, dark activation of Gqα molecules occurs spontaneously and produces unitary dark events (dark bumps). A high rate of spontaneous Gqα activation and dark bump production potentially hampers single photon detection. We found that in wild type flies the in vivo rate of spontaneous Gqα activation is very high. Nevertheless, this high rate is not manifested in a substantially high rate of dark bumps. Therefore, it is unclear how phototransduction suppresses dark bump production, arising from spontaneous Gqα activation, while still maintaining high-fidelity representation of single photons. In this study we show that reduced PLC catalytic activity selectively suppressed production of dark bumps but not light-induced bumps. Manipulations of PLC activity using PLC mutant flies and Ca2+ modulations revealed that a critical level of PLC activity is required to induce bump production. The required minimal level of PLC activity, selectively suppressed random production of single Gqα-activated dark bumps despite a high rate of spontaneous Gqα activation. This minimal PLC activity level is reliably obtained by photon induced synchronized activation of several neighboring Gqα molecules activating several PLC molecules, but not by random activation of single Gqα molecules. We thus demonstrate how a G-protein-mediated transduction system, with PLC as its target, selectively suppresses its intrinsic noise while preserving reliable signaling. PMID:22357856

Reusable and Extensible High Level Data Distributions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Diaconescu, Roxana E.; Chamberlain, Bradford; James, Mark L.; Zima, Hans P.

2005-01-01

This paper presents a reusable design of a data distribution framework for data parallel high performance applications. We are implementing the design in the context of the Chapel high productivity programming language. Distributions in Chapel are a means to express locality in systems composed of large numbers of processor and memory components connected by a network. Since distributions have a great effect on,the performance of applications, it is important that the distribution strategy can be chosen by a user. At the same time, high productivity concerns require that the user is shielded from error-prone, tedious details such as communication and synchronization. We propose an approach to distributions that enables the user to refine a language-provided distribution type and adjust it to optimize the performance of the application. Additionally, we conceal from the user low-level communication and synchronization details to increase productivity. To emphasize the generality of our distribution machinery, we present its abstract design in the form of a design pattern, which is independent of a concrete implementation. To illustrate the applicability of our distribution framework design, we outline the implementation of data distributions in terms of the Chapel language.

High-Resolution Water Footprints of Production of the United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marston, Landon; Ao, Yufei; Konar, Megan; Mekonnen, Mesfin M.; Hoekstra, Arjen Y.

2018-03-01

The United States is the largest producer of goods and services in the world. Rainfall, surface water supplies, and groundwater aquifers represent a fundamental input to economic production. Despite the importance of water resources to economic activity, we do not have consistent information on water use for specific locations and economic sectors. A national, spatially detailed database of water use by sector would provide insight into U.S. utilization and dependence on water resources for economic production. To this end, we calculate the water footprint of over 500 food, energy, mining, services, and manufacturing industries and goods produced in the United States. To do this, we employ a data intensive approach that integrates water footprint and input-output techniques into a novel methodological framework. This approach enables us to present the most detailed and comprehensive water footprint analysis of any country to date. This study broadly contributes to our understanding of water in the U.S. economy, enables supply chain managers to assess direct and indirect water dependencies, and provides opportunities to reduce water use through benchmarking. In fact, we find that 94% of U.S. industries could reduce their total water footprint more by sourcing from more water-efficient suppliers in their supply chain than they could by converting their own operations to be more water-efficient.

Regulatory pathways to enable the licencing of alternatives to antibiotics.

PubMed

Ioannou, Faye; Burnsteel, Cindy; Mackay, David K J; Gay, Cyril G

2018-05-01

Effective alternatives to antibiotics (ATA) such as vaccines, antibodies, phage therapies, prebiotics, probiotics and herbal medicines can be used in place of traditional antibiotics in a way that does not compromise animal health as means of tackling the growing threat to both animal and human health from antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This paper reflects the key points on the approaches that were discussed during the 2nd International Symposium on ATA between regulatory agencies, veterinary product companies representing largely the pharmaceutical and feed-additive sectors, academia and other stakeholders on regulatory pathways to enable the licensing of alternatives to antibiotics for food producing animals. The need to demonstrate compliance with generally accepted standards for quality, safety and efficacy is considered a pre-requisite for all veterinary medicinal products receiving an authorisation including ATA, irrespective of the region in which they are approved. ATA are often based on novel technologies, with complex mechanisms of action; therefore, early and close communication with regulators is encouraged. In addition, strategic use by ATA applicants of all regulatory tools available to support innovation is highly recommended. The veterinary product manufacturers consider that the regulation of veterinary medicines should evolve to accommodate innovative ATA technologies and incentives from regulatory agencies provided to stimulate further ATA development. Copyright © 2018.

A framework for sustainable nanomaterial selection and design based on performance, hazard, and economic considerations.

PubMed

Falinski, Mark M; Plata, Desiree L; Chopra, Shauhrat S; Theis, Thomas L; Gilbertson, Leanne M; Zimmerman, Julie B

2018-04-30

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) and ENM-enabled products have emerged as potentially high-performance replacements to conventional materials and chemicals. As such, there is an urgent need to incorporate environmental and human health objectives into ENM selection and design processes. Here, an adapted framework based on the Ashby material selection strategy is presented as an enhanced selection and design process, which includes functional performance as well as environmental and human health considerations. The utility of this framework is demonstrated through two case studies, the design and selection of antimicrobial substances and conductive polymers, including ENMs, ENM-enabled products and their alternatives. Further, these case studies consider both the comparative efficacy and impacts at two scales: (i) a broad scale, where chemical/material classes are readily compared for primary decision-making, and (ii) within a chemical/material class, where physicochemical properties are manipulated to tailor the desired performance and environmental impact profile. Development and implementation of this framework can inform decision-making for the implementation of ENMs to facilitate promising applications and prevent unintended consequences.

Crystal and Particle Engineering Strategies for Improving Powder Compression and Flow Properties to Enable Continuous Tablet Manufacturing by Direct Compression.

PubMed

Chattoraj, Sayantan; Sun, Changquan Calvin

2018-04-01

Continuous manufacturing of tablets has many advantages, including batch size flexibility, demand-adaptive scale up or scale down, consistent product quality, small operational foot print, and increased manufacturing efficiency. Simplicity makes direct compression the most suitable process for continuous tablet manufacturing. However, deficiencies in powder flow and compression of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) limit the range of drug loading that can routinely be considered for direct compression. For the widespread adoption of continuous direct compression, effective API engineering strategies to address power flow and compression problems are needed. Appropriate implementation of these strategies would facilitate the design of high-quality robust drug products, as stipulated by the Quality-by-Design framework. Here, several crystal and particle engineering strategies for improving powder flow and compression properties are summarized. The focus is on the underlying materials science, which is the foundation for effective API engineering to enable successful continuous manufacturing by the direct compression process. Copyright © 2018 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Towards a tolerance toolkit: Gene expression signatures enabling the emergence of resistant bacterial strains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erickson, Keesha; Chatterjee, Anushree

2014-03-01

Microbial pathogens are able to rapidly acquire tolerance to chemical toxins. Developing next-generation antibiotics that impede the emergence of resistance will help avoid a world-wide health crisis. Conversely, the ability to induce rapid tolerance gains could lead to high-yielding strains for sustainable production of biofuels and commodity chemicals. Achieving these goals requires an understanding of the general mechanisms allowing microbes to become resistant to diverse toxins. We apply top-down and bottom-up methodologies to identify biological network changes leading to adaptation and tolerance. Using a top-down approach, we perform evolution experiments to isolate resistant strains, collect samples for transcriptomic and proteomic analysis, and use the omics data to inform mathematical gene regulatory models. Using a bottom-up approach, we build and test synthetic genetic devices that enable increased or decreased expression of selected genes. Unique patterns in gene expression are identified in cultures actively gaining resistance, especially in pathways known to be involved with stress response, efflux, and mutagenesis. Genes correlated with tolerance could potentially allow the design of resistance-free antibiotics or robust chemical production strains.

Impact on environment, ecosystem, diversity and health from culturing and using GMOs as feed and food.

PubMed

Tsatsakis, Aristidis M; Nawaz, Muhammad Amjad; Tutelyan, Victor A; Golokhvast, Kirill S; Kalantzi, Olga-Ioanna; Chung, Duck Hwa; Kang, Sung Jo; Coleman, Michael D; Tyshko, Nadia; Yang, Seung Hwan; Chung, Gyuhwa

2017-09-01

Modern agriculture provides the potential for sustainable feeding of the world's increasing population. Up to the present moment, genetically modified (GM) products have enabled increased yields and reduced pesticide usage. Nevertheless, GM products are controversial amongst policy makers, scientists and the consumers, regarding their possible environmental, ecological, and health risks. Scientific-and-political debates can even influence legislation and prospective risk assessment procedure. Currently, the scientifically-assessed direct hazardous impacts of GM food and feed on fauna and flora are conflicting; indeed, a review of literature available data provides some evidence of GM environmental and health risks. Although the consequences of gene flow and risks to biodiversity are debatable. Risks to the environment and ecosystems can exist, such as the evolution of weed herbicide resistance during GM cultivation. A matter of high importance is to provide precise knowledge and adequate current information to regulatory agencies, governments, policy makers, researchers, and commercial GMO-releasing companies to enable them to thoroughly investigate the possible risks. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A scalable method for the production of high-titer and high-quality adeno-associated type 9 vectors using the HSV platform

PubMed Central

Adamson-Small, Laura; Potter, Mark; Falk, Darin J; Cleaver, Brian; Byrne, Barry J; Clément, Nathalie

2016-01-01

Recombinant adeno-associated vectors based on serotype 9 (rAAV9) have demonstrated highly effective gene transfer in multiple animal models of muscular dystrophies and other neurological indications. Current limitations in vector production and purification have hampered widespread implementation of clinical candidate vectors, particularly when systemic administration is considered. In this study, we describe a complete herpes simplex virus (HSV)-based production and purification process capable of generating greater than 1 × 1014 rAAV9 vector genomes per 10-layer CellSTACK of HEK 293 producer cells, or greater than 1 × 105 vector genome per cell, in a final, fully purified product. This represents a 5- to 10-fold increase over transfection-based methods. In addition, rAAV vectors produced by this method demonstrated improved biological characteristics when compared to transfection-based production, including increased infectivity as shown by higher transducing unit-to-vector genome ratios and decreased total capsid protein amounts, shown by lower empty-to-full ratios. Together, this data establishes a significant improvement in both rAAV9 yields and vector quality. Further, the method can be readily adapted to large-scale good laboratory practice (GLP) and good manufacturing practice (GMP) production of rAAV9 vectors to enable preclinical and clinical studies and provide a platform to build on toward late-phases and commercial production. PMID:27222839

Use of quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry to determine proposed structures of transformation products of the herbicide bromacil after water chlorination.

PubMed

Ibáñez, María; Sancho, Juan V; Pozo, Oscar J; Hernández, Félix

2011-10-30

The herbicide bromacil has been extensively used in the Spanish Mediterranean region, and although plant protection products containing bromacil have been withdrawn by the European Union, this compound is still frequently detected in surface and ground water of this area. However, the fast and complete disappearance of this compound has been observed in water intended for human consumption, after it has been subjected to chlorination. There is a concern about the possible degradation products formed, since they might be present in drinking water and might be hazardous. In this work, the sensitive full-spectrum acquisition, high resolution and exact mass capabilities of hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight (QTOF) mass spectrometry have allowed the discovery and proposal of structures of transformation products (TPs) of bromacil in water subjected to chlorination. Different ground water samples spiked at 0.5 µg/mL were subjected to the conventional chlorination procedure applied to drinking waters, sampling 2-mL aliquots at different time intervals (1, 10 and 30 min). The corresponding non-spiked water was used as control sample in each experiment. Afterwards, 50 μL of the water was directly injected into an ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC)/electrospray ionization (ESI)-(Q)TOF system. The QTOF instrument enabled the simultaneous recording of two acquisition functions at different collision energies (MS(E) approach): the low-energy (LE) function, fixed at 4 eV, and the high-energy (HE) function, with a collision energy ramp from 15 to 40 eV. This approach enables the simultaneous acquisition of both parent (deprotonated and protonated molecules) and fragment ions in a single injection. The low mass errors observed for the deprotonated and protonated molecules (detected in LE function) allowed the assignment of a highly probable molecular formula. Fragment ions and neutral losses were investigated in both LE and HE spectra to elucidate the structures of the TPs found. For those compounds that displayed poor fragmentation, product ion scan (MS/MS) experiments were also performed. On processing the data with specialized software (MetaboLynx), four bromacil TPs were detected and their structures were elucidated. To our knowledge, two of them had not previously been reported. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Lean Production as an Innovative Approach to Construction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spišáková, Marcela; Kozlovská, Mária

2013-06-01

Lean production presents a new approach to the construction management which has enabled enterprises to attain very high levels of efficiency, competitiveness and flexibility in production systems. Nowadays, a number of industrial processes are managed in accordance with these advanced management principles [1]. The principles of lean production are applied within the integrated design and delivery solutions (IDDS) and prefabricated construction. IDDS uses collaborative work processes and enhanced skills, with integrated data, information, and knowledge management to minimize structural and process inefficiencies and to enhance the value delivered during design, build, and operation, and across projects. Prefabrication presents a one of opportunities for construction methods, which allows the compliance with principles of sustainable design, provides the potential benefits such as faster construction, fewer housing defects, reduction in energy use and waste and elimination of environmental and safety risks. This paper presents the lean production within the IDDS and its potential in the modern prefabrication. There is created a field providing of benefits of lean production in construction industry.

Consumer attitudes toward new technique for preserving organic meat using herbs and berries.

PubMed

Haugaard, Pernille; Hansen, Flemming; Jensen, Martin; Grunert, Klaus G

2014-01-01

This study aims to explore consumers' attitude toward a new preservation technique using herbs and berries in organic meat production, which enables to minimize the amount of chemical additives and to reduce the salt content in meat products. Consumer acceptance of the preservation technique using herbs and berries and intention to purchase products preserved with herbs and berries were investigated through a qualitative approach by means of three focus groups. In general, most participants were positive toward the preservation technique using herbs and berries and there were only few concerns related to the technique. Concerns were related not as much to the technique but more to the products. Four factors seem important in this relation: shelf life, taste, appearance and texture. The intention to purchase products preserved with herbs and berries is generally high, but is dependent on taste and appearance of the products, the price and information level. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quantum cascade lasers for defense and security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Day, Timothy; Pushkarsky, Michael; Caffey, Dave; Cecchetti, Kristen; Arp, Ron; Whitmore, Alex; Henson, Michael; Takeuchi, Eric B.

2013-10-01

Quantum cascade laser (QCL) systems are mature and at the vanguard of a new generation of products that support military applications such as Infrared Countermeasures (IRCM) and targeting. The demanding product requirements for aircraft platforms that include reduced size, weight, power consumption and cost (SWaP-C) extends to portable, battery powered handheld products. QCL technology operates throughout the mid-wave (MWIR) and long-wave (LWIR) infrared to provide new capabilities that leverage existing thermal imaging cameras. In addition to their suitability for aircraft platforms, QCL products are a natural fit to meet operator demands for small, lightweight pointer and beacon capabilities. Field-testing of high power, lightweight, battery operated devices has demonstrated their utility across a range of air and ground applications. This talk will present an overview of QCL technology and the Defense and Security products and capabilities that are enabled by it. This talk will also provide an overview of the extensive environmental and performance testing associated with products based on QCL technology.

Quantitative analysis of pork and chicken products by droplet digital PCR.

PubMed

Cai, Yicun; Li, Xiang; Lv, Rong; Yang, Jielin; Li, Jian; He, Yuping; Pan, Liangwen

2014-01-01

In this project, a highly precise quantitative method based on the digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) technique was developed to determine the weight of pork and chicken in meat products. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) is currently used for quantitative molecular analysis of the presence of species-specific DNAs in meat products. However, it is limited in amplification efficiency and relies on standard curves based Ct values, detecting and quantifying low copy number target DNA, as in some complex mixture meat products. By using the dPCR method, we find the relationships between the raw meat weight and DNA weight and between the DNA weight and DNA copy number were both close to linear. This enabled us to establish formulae to calculate the raw meat weight based on the DNA copy number. The accuracy and applicability of this method were tested and verified using samples of pork and chicken powder mixed in known proportions. Quantitative analysis indicated that dPCR is highly precise in quantifying pork and chicken in meat products and therefore has the potential to be used in routine analysis by government regulators and quality control departments of commercial food and feed enterprises.

Engineering Escherichia coli for Conversion of Glucose to Medium-Chain ω-Hydroxy Fatty Acids and α,ω-Dicarboxylic Acids.

PubMed

Bowen, Christopher H; Bonin, Jeff; Kogler, Anna; Barba-Ostria, Carlos; Zhang, Fuzhong

2016-03-18

In search of sustainable approaches to plastics production, many efforts have been made to engineer microbial conversions of renewable feedstock to short-chain (C2-C8) bifunctional polymer precursors (e.g., succinic acid, cadaverine, 1,4-butanediol). Less attention has been given to medium-chain (C12-C14) monomers such as ω-hydroxy fatty acids (ω-OHFAs) and α,ω-dicarboxylic acids (α,ω-DCAs), which are precursors to high performance polyesters and polyamides. Here we engineer a complete microbial conversion of glucose to C12 and C14 ω-OHFAs and α,ω-DCAs, with precise control of product chain length. Using an expanded bioinformatics approach, we screen a wide range of enzymes across phyla to identify combinations that yield complete conversion of intermediates to product α,ω-DCAs. Finally, through optimization of culture conditions, we enhance production titer of C12 α,ω-DCA to nearly 600 mg/L. Our results indicate potential for this microbial factory to enable commercially relevant, renewable production of C12 α,ω-DCA-a valuable precursor to the high-performance plastic, nylon-6,12.

High-throughput assay for long chain fatty acyl-CoA elongase using homogeneous scintillation proximity format.

PubMed

Shimamura, Ken; Miyamoto, Yasuhisa; Kitazawa, Hidefumi; Kobayashi, Tsutomu; Kotani, Hidehito; Tokita, Shigeru

2009-04-01

Elongase of very-long-chain fatty acid (Elovl) 6 is a rate-limiting enzyme that is responsible for the elongation of long-chain fatty acids such as palmitoic acid (C16). Elovl6 is abundantly expressed in liver and adipose tissue, and the expression levels in these tissues are up-regulated in obese animals. Furthermore, Elovl6-deficient mice display improved glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivity, suggesting that Elovl6 might be a potential therapeutic target for metabolic disorders. From the drug discovery point of view, it is critical to establish a high-throughput screening (HTS) assay for the identification of therapeutic agents. Conventional assay methods for fatty acid elongases include an extraction step for respective radioactive products from the reaction mixtures, which is labor-intensive and not feasible for HTS. In this study, we utilized the acyl-coenzyme A (CoA) binding protein (ACBP) as a molecular probe to detect radioactive long-chain acyl-CoA, a direct product of Elovl6. Recombinant ACBP binds stearoyl-CoA but not malonyl-CoA, enabling specific detection of the radioactive product in the homogenous reaction mixture without the liquid extraction step. Finally, combination of ACBP and scintillation proximity assay beads led to specific detection of Elovl6 activity with appropriate window and reproducibility amenable to HTS (signal-to-background noise ratio of approximately 13.0-fold, Z' = 0.85). The assay system described here has the potential to enable identification of small compounds that modify fatty acid elongase activity and assessment of the therapeutic potential of acyl-CoA elongases.

System-level integration of active silicon photonic biosensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laplatine, L.; Al'Mrayat, O.; Luan, E.; Fang, C.; Rezaiezadeh, S.; Ratner, D. M.; Cheung, K.; Dattner, Y.; Chrostowski, L.

2017-02-01

Biosensors based on silicon photonic integrated circuits have attracted a growing interest in recent years. The use of sub-micron silicon waveguides to propagate near-infrared light allows for the drastic reduction of the optical system size, while increasing its complexity and sensitivity. Using silicon as the propagating medium also leverages the fabrication capabilities of CMOS foundries, which offer low-cost mass production. Researchers have deeply investigated photonic sensor devices, such as ring resonators, interferometers and photonic crystals, but the practical integration of silicon photonic biochips as part of a complete system has received less attention. Herein, we present a practical system-level architecture which can be employed to integrate the aforementioned photonic biosensors. We describe a system based on 1 mm2 dies that integrate germanium photodetectors and a single light coupling device. The die are embedded into a 16x16 mm2 epoxy package to enable microfluidic and electrical integration. First, we demonstrate a simple process to mimic Fan-Out Wafer-level-Packaging, which enables low-cost mass production. We then characterize the photodetectors in the photovoltaic mode, which exhibit high sensitivity at low optical power. Finally, we present a new grating coupler concept to relax the lateral alignment tolerance down to +/- 50 μm at 1-dB (80%) power penalty, which should permit non-experts to use the biochips in a"plug-and-play" style. The system-level integration demonstrated in this study paves the way towards the mass production of low-cost and highly sensitive biosensors, and can facilitate their wide adoption for biomedical and agro-environmental applications.

Direct thermal water splitting by concentrated solar radiation for hydrogen production. Phase O: Proof of concept experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Genequand, P.

1980-01-01

The direct production of hydrogen from water and solar energy concentrated into a high temperature aperture is described. A solar powered reactor able to dissociate water vapor and to separate the reaction product at high temperature was developed, and direct water splitting has been achieved in a laboratory reactor. Water vapor and radiative heating from a carbon dioxide laser are fed into the reactor, and water vapor enriched in hydrogen and water vapor enriched in oxygen are produced. The enriched water vapors are separated through a separation membrane, a small disc of zirconium dioxide heated to a range of 1800 k to 2800 k. To avoid water vapor condensation within the reactor, the total pressure within the reactor was limited to 0.15 torr. A few modifications would enable the reactor to be operated at an increased pressure of a few torrs. More substantial modifications would allow for a reaction pressure of 0.1 atmosphere.

A practical review of energy saving technology for ageing populations.

PubMed

Walker, Guy; Taylor, Andrea; Whittet, Craig; Lynn, Craig; Docherty, Catherine; Stephen, Bruce; Owens, Edward; Galloway, Stuart

2017-07-01

Fuel poverty is a critical issue for a globally ageing population. Longer heating/cooling requirements combine with declining incomes to create a problem in need of urgent attention. One solution is to deploy technology to help elderly users feel informed about their energy use, and empowered to take steps to make it more cost effective and efficient. This study subjects a broad cross section of energy monitoring and home automation products to a formal ergonomic analysis. A high level task analysis was used to guide a product walk through, and a toolkit approach was used thereafter to drive out further insights. The findings reveal a number of serious usability issues which prevent these products from successfully accessing an important target demographic and associated energy saving and fuel poverty outcomes. Design principles and examples are distilled from the research to enable practitioners to translate the underlying research into high quality design-engineering solutions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Current and emerging applications of 3D printing in medicine.

PubMed

Liaw, Chya-Yan; Guvendiren, Murat

2017-06-07

Three-dimensional (3D) printing enables the production of anatomically matched and patient-specific devices and constructs with high tunability and complexity. It also allows on-demand fabrication with high productivity in a cost-effective manner. As a result, 3D printing has become a leading manufacturing technique in healthcare and medicine for a wide range of applications including dentistry, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, engineered tissue models, medical devices, anatomical models and drug formulation. Today, 3D printing is widely adopted by the healthcare industry and academia. It provides commercially available medical products and a platform for emerging research areas including tissue and organ printing. In this review, our goal is to discuss the current and emerging applications of 3D printing in medicine. A brief summary on additive manufacturing technologies and available printable materials is also given. The technological and regulatory barriers that are slowing down the full implementation of 3D printing in the medical field are also discussed.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Jia

Biorefineries convert biomass into many useful intermediates. For bio-based products to be used for fuel, energy, chemical, and many other applications, water needs to be removed from these aqueous products. Membrane separation technologies can significantly reduce separation energy consumption compared with conventional separation processes such as distillation. Nanoporous inorganic membranes have superior pervaporation performance with excellent organic fouling resistance. However, their commercial applications are limited due to high membrane costs and poor production reproducibility. A novel cost-effective inorganic membrane fabrication technology has been developed with low cost materials and using an advanced membrane fabrication technology. Low cost precursor material formulationmore » was successfully developed with desired material properties for membrane fabrication. An advanced membrane fabrication process was developed using the novel membrane materials to enable the fabrication of separation membranes of various geometries. The structural robustness and separation performance of the low cost inorganic membranes were evaluated. The novel inorganic membranes demonstrated high structural integrity and were effective in pervaporation removal of water.« less

Small RNA Library Preparation Method for Next-Generation Sequencing Using Chemical Modifications to Prevent Adapter Dimer Formation.

PubMed

Shore, Sabrina; Henderson, Jordana M; Lebedev, Alexandre; Salcedo, Michelle P; Zon, Gerald; McCaffrey, Anton P; Paul, Natasha; Hogrefe, Richard I

2016-01-01

For most sample types, the automation of RNA and DNA sample preparation workflows enables high throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) library preparation. Greater adoption of small RNA (sRNA) sequencing has been hindered by high sample input requirements and inherent ligation side products formed during library preparation. These side products, known as adapter dimer, are very similar in size to the tagged library. Most sRNA library preparation strategies thus employ a gel purification step to isolate tagged library from adapter dimer contaminants. At very low sample inputs, adapter dimer side products dominate the reaction and limit the sensitivity of this technique. Here we address the need for improved specificity of sRNA library preparation workflows with a novel library preparation approach that uses modified adapters to suppress adapter dimer formation. This workflow allows for lower sample inputs and elimination of the gel purification step, which in turn allows for an automatable sRNA library preparation protocol.

An ISRU Propellant Production System to Fully Fuel a Mars Ascent Vehicle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kleinhenz, Julie E.; Paz, Aaron

2017-01-01

In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) will enable the long term presence of humans beyond low earth orbit. Since 2009, oxygen production from the Mars atmosphere has been baselined as an enabling technology for Mars human exploration by NASA. However, using water from the Martian regolith in addition to the atmospheric CO2 would enable the production of both liquid Methane and liquid Oxygen, thus fully fueling a Mars return vehicle. A case study was performed to show how ISRU can support NASA's Evolvable Mars Campaign (EMC) using methane and oxygen production from Mars resources. A model was built and used to generate mass and power estimates of an end-to-end ISRU system including excavation and extraction water from Mars regolith, processing the Mars atmosphere, and liquefying the propellants. Even using the lowest yield regolith, a full ISRU system would weigh 1.7 mT while eliminating the need to transport 30 mT of ascent propellants from earth.

Rewiring a secondary metabolite pathway towards itaconic acid production in Aspergillus niger.

PubMed

Hossain, Abeer H; Li, An; Brickwedde, Anja; Wilms, Lars; Caspers, Martien; Overkamp, Karin; Punt, Peter J

2016-07-28

The industrially relevant filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger is widely used in industry for its secretion capabilities of enzymes and organic acids. Biotechnologically produced organic acids promise to be an attractive alternative for the chemical industry to replace petrochemicals. Itaconic acid (IA) has been identified as one of the top twelve building block chemicals which have high potential to be produced by biotechnological means. The IA biosynthesis cluster (cadA, mttA and mfsA) has been elucidated in its natural producer Aspergillus terreus and transferred to A. niger to enable IA production. Here we report the rewiring of a secondary metabolite pathway towards further improved IA production through the overexpression of a putative cytosolic citrate synthase citB in a A. niger strain carrying the IA biosynthesis cluster. We have previously shown that expression of cadA from A. terreus results in itaconic acid production in A. niger AB1.13, albeit at low levels. This low-level production is boosted fivefold by the overexpression of mttA and mfsA in itaconic acid producing AB1.13 CAD background strains. Controlled batch cultivations with AB1.13 CAD + MFS + MTT strains showed increased production of itaconic acid compared with AB1.13 CAD strain. Moreover, preliminary RNA-Seq analysis of an itaconic acid producing AB1.13 CAD strain has led to the identification of the putative cytosolic citrate synthase citB which was induced in an IA producing strain. We have overexpressed citB in a AB1.13 CAD + MFS + MTT strain and by doing so hypothesize to have targeted itaconic acid production to the cytosolic compartment. By overexpressing citB in AB1.13 CAD + MFS + MTT strains in controlled batch cultivations we have achieved highly increased titers of up to 26.2 g/L IA with a productivity of 0.35 g/L/h while no CA was produced. Expression of the IA biosynthesis cluster in Aspergillus niger AB1.13 strain enables IA production. Moreover, in the AB1.13 CAD strain IA production resulted in overexpression of a putative cytosolic citrate synthase citB. Upon overexpression of citB we have achieved titers of up to 26.2 g/L IA with a productivity of 0.35 g/L/h in controlled batch cultivations. By overexpressing citB we have also diminished side product formation and optimized the production pathway towards IA.

High-resolution remote sensing of water quality in the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fichot, Cédric G.; Downing, Bryan D.; Bergamaschi, Brian; Windham-Myers, Lisamarie; Marvin-DiPasquale, Mark C.; Thompson, David R.; Gierach, Michelle M.

2015-01-01

The San Francisco Bay–Delta Estuary watershed is a major source of freshwater for California and a profoundly human-impacted environment. The water quality monitoring that is critical to the management of this important water resource and ecosystem relies primarily on a system of fixed water-quality monitoring stations, but the limited spatial coverage often hinders understanding. Here, we show how the latest technology in visible/near-infrared imaging spectroscopy can facilitate water quality monitoring in this highly dynamic and heterogeneous system by enabling simultaneous depictions of several water quality indicators at very high spatial resolution. The airborne portable remote imaging spectrometer (PRISM) was used to derive high-spatial-resolution (2.6 × 2.6 m) distributions of turbidity, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and chlorophyll-a concentrations in a wetland-influenced region of this estuary. A filter-passing methylmercury vs DOC relationship was also developed using in situ samples and enabled the high-spatial-resolution depiction of surface methylmercury concentrations in this area. The results illustrate how high-resolution imaging spectroscopy can inform management and policy development in important inland and estuarine water bodies by facilitating the detection of point- and nonpoint-source pollution, and by providing data to help assess the complex impacts of wetland restoration and climate change on water quality and ecosystem productivity.

Systematic engineering of the central metabolism in Escherichia coli for effective production of n-butanol.

PubMed

Saini, Mukesh; Li, Si-Yu; Wang, Ze Win; Chiang, Chung-Jen; Chao, Yun-Peng

2016-01-01

Microbes have been extensively explored for production of environment-friendly fuels and chemicals. The microbial fermentation pathways leading to these commodities usually involve many redox reactions. This makes the fermentative production of highly reduced products challenging, because there is a limited NADH output from glucose catabolism. Microbial production of n-butanol apparently represents one typical example. In this study, we addressed the issue by adjustment of the intracellular redox state in Escherichia coli. This was initiated with strain BuT-8 which carries the clostridial CoA-dependent synthetic pathway. Three metabolite nodes in the central metabolism of the strain were targeted for engineering. First, the pyruvate node was manipulated by enhancement of pyruvate decarboxylation in the oxidative pathway. Subsequently, the pentose phosphate (PP) pathway was amplified at the glucose-6-phosphate (G6P) node. The pathway for G6P isomerization was further blocked to force the glycolytic flux through the PP pathway. It resulted in a growth defect, and the cell growth was later recovered by limiting the tricarboxylic acid cycle at the acetyl-CoA node. Finally, the resulting strain exhibited a high NADH level and enabled production of 6.1 g/L n-butanol with a yield of 0.31 g/g-glucose and a productivity of 0.21 g/L/h. The production efficiency of fermentative products in microbes strongly depends on the intracellular redox state. This work illustrates the flexibility of pyruvate, G6P, and acetyl-CoA nodes at the junction of the central metabolism for engineering. In principle, high production of reduced products of interest can be achieved by individual or coordinated modulation of these metabolite nodes.

Holy Trinity of Instrumentation Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uršič, Rok; Šolar, Borut

2004-11-01

Being user friendly should be the main guidance, beside the self-understood high performance, in today's instrumentation development. Here we identify three components of the user-friendly policy: the all-in-one concept, customization, and connectivity. All-in-one is the concept of unification of various building blocks and thus various functionalities in one product. The customization is enabled by the product's reconfigurability that allows a product to grow and support new requirements and applications without changing hardware. The consequence of the two is the capacity of the single instrument to perform a variety of tasks that before were split among different devices. The last of the three is connectivity that improves the relationship between controls and beam diagnostics, brings out-of-the-crate freedom, and opens unforeseen possibilities for intra-accelerator cooperation and remote technical support.

Open Bottom Production in Au+Au Collisions at s NN = 200 GeV with the STAR Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Shenghui

In these proceedings, we present measurements of open bottom hadron production through multiple decay channels in Au+Au collisions at s NN = 200 GeV by the STAR experiment. Namely, measurements of nuclear modification factors for electrons, J/ψ, and D0 from open bottom hadron decays are shown. The decay products are topologically identified utilizing the Heavy Flavor Tracker, a silicon vertex detector installed at STAR during the period of 2014 - 2016. It enables precise reconstruction of displaced decay vertices. The results show large suppression for non-prompt J/ψ and non-prompt D0 at high transverse momenta, and indicate less suppression for electrons from bottom hadron decays than for those from charm hadron decays at ˜ 2σ significance level.

In situ measurement of gold nanoparticle production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Affandi, Mohd Syafiq; Bidin, Noriah; Abdullah, Mundzir; Aziz, Muhammad Safuan Abd.; Al-Azawi, Mohammed; Nugroho, Waskito

2015-01-01

The closeness of the experimental and theoretical values enables the development of an in situ characterization technique to monitor and analyze the production of gold nanoparticles (NPs), overcoming the use of high-end and expensive instrumentation. Gold NPs below the radius size of 10 nm were successfully synthesized in accordance with a few working parameters of pulse laser ablation in a liquid technique. In this report, the size, shape, concentration, and aggregation properties of gold NPs were estimated by the Mie-Gans model based on a reliable and interactive real-time absorption spectroscopy. The major features can be an important means toward determination of efficient process measures, productivity of gold NPs generated, and efficiency of the mass ablation rate. The accuracy in the measurement is confirmed via transmission electron microscopy analysis.

Analysis of solvent dyes in refined petroleum products by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rostad, C.E.

2010-01-01

Solvent dyes are used to color refined petroleum products to enable differentiation between gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels. Analysis for these dyes in the hydrocarbon product is difficult due to their very low concentrations in such a complex matrix. Flow injection analysis/electrospray ionization/mass spectrometry in both negative and positive mode was used to optimize ionization of ten typical solvent dyes. Samples of hydrocarbon product were analyzed under similar conditions. Positive electrospray ionization produced very complex spectra, which were not suitably specific for targeting only the dyes. Negative electrospray ionization produced simple spectra because aliphatic and aromatic moieties were not ionized. This enabled screening for a target dye in samples of hydrocarbon product from a spill.

A high-throughput media design approach for high performance mammalian fed-batch cultures

PubMed Central

Rouiller, Yolande; Périlleux, Arnaud; Collet, Natacha; Jordan, Martin; Stettler, Matthieu; Broly, Hervé

2013-01-01

An innovative high-throughput medium development method based on media blending was successfully used to improve the performance of a Chinese hamster ovary fed-batch medium in shaking 96-deepwell plates. Starting from a proprietary chemically-defined medium, 16 formulations testing 43 of 47 components at 3 different levels were designed. Media blending was performed following a custom-made mixture design of experiments considering binary blends, resulting in 376 different blends that were tested during both cell expansion and fed-batch production phases in one single experiment. Three approaches were chosen to provide the best output of the large amount of data obtained. A simple ranking of conditions was first used as a quick approach to select new formulations with promising features. Then, prediction of the best mixes was done to maximize both growth and titer using the Design Expert software. Finally, a multivariate analysis enabled identification of individual potential critical components for further optimization. Applying this high-throughput method on a fed-batch, rather than on a simple batch, process opens new perspectives for medium and feed development that enables identification of an optimized process in a short time frame. PMID:23563583

GR712RC- Dual-Core Processor- Product Status

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sturesson, Fredrik; Habinc, Sandi; Gaisler, Jiri

2012-08-01

The GR712RC System-on-Chip (SoC) is a dual core LEON3FT system suitable for advanced high reliability space avionics. Fault tolerance features from Aeroflex Gaisler’s GRLIB IP library and an implementation using Ramon Chips RadSafe cell library enables superior radiation hardness.The GR712RC device has been designed to provide high processing power by including two LEON3FT 32- bit SPARC V8 processors, each with its own high- performance IEEE754 compliant floating-point-unit and SPARC reference memory management unit.This high processing power is combined with a large number of serial interfaces, ranging from high-speed links for data transfers to low-speed control buses for commanding and status acquisition.

Industrial biomanufacturing: The future of chemical production.

PubMed

Clomburg, James M; Crumbley, Anna M; Gonzalez, Ramon

2017-01-06

The current model for industrial chemical manufacturing employs large-scale megafacilities that benefit from economies of unit scale. However, this strategy faces environmental, geographical, political, and economic challenges associated with energy and manufacturing demands. We review how exploiting biological processes for manufacturing (i.e., industrial biomanufacturing) addresses these concerns while also supporting and benefiting from economies of unit number. Key to this approach is the inherent small scale and capital efficiency of bioprocesses and the ability of engineered biocatalysts to produce designer products at high carbon and energy efficiency with adjustable output, at high selectivity, and under mild process conditions. The biological conversion of single-carbon compounds represents a test bed to establish this paradigm, enabling rapid, mobile, and widespread deployment, access to remote and distributed resources, and adaptation to new and changing markets. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Improving the light-emitting properties of single-layered polyfluorene light-emitting devices by simple ionic liquid blending

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horike, Shohei; Nagaki, Hiroto; Misaki, Masahiro; Koshiba, Yasuko; Morimoto, Masahiro; Fukushima, Tatsuya; Ishida, Kenji

2018-03-01

This paper describes an evaluation of ionic liquids (ILs) as potential electrolytes for single-layered light-emitting devices with good emission performance. As optoelectronic devices continue to grow in abundance, high-performance light-emitting devices with a single emission layer are becoming increasingly important for low-cost production. We show that a simple technique of osmosing IL into the polymer layer can result in high luminous efficiency and good response times of single-layered light-emitting polymers, even without the additional stacking of charge carrier injection and transport layers. The IL contributions to the light-emission of the polymer are discussed from the perspectives of energy diagrams and of the electric double layers on the electrodes. Our findings enable a faster, cheaper, and lower-in-waste production of light-emitting devices.

Satellite Imagery Analysis for Automated Global Food Security Forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moody, D.; Brumby, S. P.; Chartrand, R.; Keisler, R.; Mathis, M.; Beneke, C. M.; Nicholaeff, D.; Skillman, S.; Warren, M. S.; Poehnelt, J.

2017-12-01

The recent computing performance revolution has driven improvements in sensor, communication, and storage technology. Multi-decadal remote sensing datasets at the petabyte scale are now available in commercial clouds, with new satellite constellations generating petabytes/year of daily high-resolution global coverage imagery. Cloud computing and storage, combined with recent advances in machine learning, are enabling understanding of the world at a scale and at a level of detail never before feasible. We present results from an ongoing effort to develop satellite imagery analysis tools that aggregate temporal, spatial, and spectral information and that can scale with the high-rate and dimensionality of imagery being collected. We focus on the problem of monitoring food crop productivity across the Middle East and North Africa, and show how an analysis-ready, multi-sensor data platform enables quick prototyping of satellite imagery analysis algorithms, from land use/land cover classification and natural resource mapping, to yearly and monthly vegetative health change trends at the structural field level.

Compartmentalized microchannel array for high-throughput analysis of single cell polarized growth and dynamics

DOE PAGES

Geng, Tao; Bredeweg, Erin L.; Szymanski, Craig J.; ...

2015-11-04

Here, interrogating polarized growth is technologically challenging due to extensive cellular branching and uncontrollable environmental conditions in conventional assays. Here we present a robust and high-performance microfluidic system that enables observations of polarized growth with enhanced temporal and spatial control over prolonged periods. The system has built-in tunability and versatility to accommodate a variety of science applications requiring precisely controlled environments. Using the model filamentous fungus, Neurospora crassa, this microfluidic system enabled direct visualization and analysis of cellular heterogeneity in a clonal fungal cell population, nuclear distribution and dynamics at the subhyphal level, and quantitative dynamics of gene expression withmore » single hyphal compartment resolution in response to carbon source starvation and exchange experiments. Although the microfluidic device is demonstrated on filamentous fungi, our technology is immediately extensible to a wide array of other biosystems that exhibit similar polarized cell growth with applications ranging from bioenergy production to human health.« less

Rough-Surface-Enabled Capacitive Pressure Sensors with 3D Touch Capability.

PubMed

Lee, Kilsoo; Lee, Jaehong; Kim, Gwangmook; Kim, Youngjae; Kang, Subin; Cho, Sungjun; Kim, SeulGee; Kim, Jae-Kang; Lee, Wooyoung; Kim, Dae-Eun; Kang, Shinill; Kim, DaeEun; Lee, Taeyoon; Shim, Wooyoung

2017-11-01

Fabrication strategies that pursue "simplicity" for the production process and "functionality" for a device, in general, are mutually exclusive. Therefore, strategies that are less expensive, less equipment-intensive, and consequently, more accessible to researchers for the realization of omnipresent electronics are required. Here, this study presents a conceptually different approach that utilizes the inartificial design of the surface roughness of paper to realize a capacitive pressure sensor with high performance compared with sensors produced using costly microfabrication processes. This study utilizes a writing activity with a pencil and paper, which enables the construction of a fundamental capacitor that can be used as a flexible capacitive pressure sensor with high pressure sensitivity and short response time and that it can be inexpensively fabricated over large areas. Furthermore, the paper-based pressure sensors are integrated into a fully functional 3D touch-pad device, which is a step toward the realization of omnipresent electronics. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Cranial asymmetry in Eocene archaeocete whales and the evolution of directional hearing in water

PubMed Central

Fahlke, Julia M.; Gingerich, Philip D.; Welsh, Robert C.; Wood, Aaron R.

2011-01-01

Eocene archaeocete whales gave rise to all modern toothed and baleen whales (Odontoceti and Mysticeti) during or near the Eocene-Oligocene transition. Odontocetes have asymmetrical skulls, with asymmetry linked to high-frequency sound production and echolocation. Mysticetes are generally assumed to have symmetrical skulls and lack high-frequency hearing. Here we show that protocetid and basilosaurid archaeocete skulls are distinctly and directionally asymmetrical. Archaeocete asymmetry involves curvature and axial torsion of the cranium, but no telescoping. Cranial asymmetry evolved in Eocene archaeocetes as part of a complex of traits linked to directional hearing (such as pan-bone thinning of the lower jaws, mandibular fat pads, and isolation of the ear region), probably enabling them to hear the higher sonic frequencies of sound-producing fish on which they preyed. Ultrasonic echolocation evolved in Oligocene odontocetes, enabling them to find silent prey. Asymmetry and much of the sonic-frequency range of directional hearing were lost in Oligocene mysticetes during the shift to low-frequency hearing and bulk-straining predation. PMID:21873217

Interactive Multi-Instrument Database of Solar Flares

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ranjan, Shubha S.; Spaulding, Ryan; Deardorff, Donald G.

2018-01-01

The fundamental motivation of the project is that the scientific output of solar research can be greatly enhanced by better exploitation of the existing solar/heliosphere space-data products jointly with ground-based observations. Our primary focus is on developing a specific innovative methodology based on recent advances in "big data" intelligent databases applied to the growing amount of high-spatial and multi-wavelength resolution, high-cadence data from NASA's missions and supporting ground-based observatories. Our flare database is not simply a manually searchable time-based catalog of events or list of web links pointing to data. It is a preprocessed metadata repository enabling fast search and automatic identification of all recorded flares sharing a specifiable set of characteristics, features, and parameters. The result is a new and unique database of solar flares and data search and classification tools for the Heliophysics community, enabling multi-instrument/multi-wavelength investigations of flare physics and supporting further development of flare-prediction methodologies.

Integral blow moulding for cycle time reduction of CFR-TP aluminium contour joint processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barfuss, Daniel; Würfel, Veit; Grützner, Raik; Gude, Maik; Müller, Roland

2018-05-01

Integral blow moulding (IBM) as a joining technology of carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastic (CFR-TP) hollow profiles with metallic load introduction elements enables significant cycle time reduction by shortening of the process chain. As the composite part is joined to the metallic part during its consolidation process subsequent joining steps are omitted. In combination with a multi-scale structured load introduction element its form closure function enables to pass very high loads and is capable to achieve high degrees of material utilization. This paper first shows the process set-up utilizing thermoplastic tape braided preforms and two-staged press and internal hydro formed load introduction elements. Second focuses on heating technologies and process optimization. Aiming at cycle time reduction convection and induction heating in regard to the resulting product quality is inspected by photo micrographs and computer tomographic scans. Concluding remarks give final recommendations for the process design in regard to the structural design.

Luciferin Amides Enable in Vivo Bioluminescence Detection of Endogenous Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase Activity.

PubMed

Mofford, David M; Adams, Spencer T; Reddy, G S Kiran Kumar; Reddy, Gadarla Randheer; Miller, Stephen C

2015-07-15

Firefly luciferase is homologous to fatty acyl-CoA synthetases. We hypothesized that the firefly luciferase substrate d-luciferin and its analogs are fatty acid mimics that are ideally suited to probe the chemistry of enzymes that release fatty acid products. Here, we synthesized luciferin amides and found that these molecules are hydrolyzed to substrates for firefly luciferase by the enzyme fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH). In the presence of luciferase, these molecules enable highly sensitive and selective bioluminescent detection of FAAH activity in vitro, in live cells, and in vivo. The potency and tissue distribution of FAAH inhibitors can be imaged in live mice, and luciferin amides serve as exemplary reagents for greatly improved bioluminescence imaging in FAAH-expressing tissues such as the brain.

Luciferin Amides Enable in Vivo Bioluminescence Detection of Endogenous Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase Activity

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Firefly luciferase is homologous to fatty acyl-CoA synthetases. We hypothesized that the firefly luciferase substrate d-luciferin and its analogs are fatty acid mimics that are ideally suited to probe the chemistry of enzymes that release fatty acid products. Here, we synthesized luciferin amides and found that these molecules are hydrolyzed to substrates for firefly luciferase by the enzyme fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH). In the presence of luciferase, these molecules enable highly sensitive and selective bioluminescent detection of FAAH activity in vitro, in live cells, and in vivo. The potency and tissue distribution of FAAH inhibitors can be imaged in live mice, and luciferin amides serve as exemplary reagents for greatly improved bioluminescence imaging in FAAH-expressing tissues such as the brain. PMID:26120870

Enabling technologies and green processes in cyclodextrin chemistry

PubMed Central

Caporaso, Marina; Jicsinszky, Laszlo; Martina, Katia

2016-01-01

Summary The design of efficient synthetic green strategies for the selective modification of cyclodextrins (CDs) is still a challenging task. Outstanding results have been achieved in recent years by means of so-called enabling technologies, such as microwaves, ultrasound and ball mills, that have become irreplaceable tools in the synthesis of CD derivatives. Several examples of sonochemical selective modification of native α-, β- and γ-CDs have been reported including heterogeneous phase Pd- and Cu-catalysed hydrogenations and couplings. Microwave irradiation has emerged as the technique of choice for the production of highly substituted CD derivatives, CD grafted materials and polymers. Mechanochemical methods have successfully furnished greener, solvent-free syntheses and efficient complexation, while flow microreactors may well improve the repeatability and optimization of critical synthetic protocols. PMID:26977187

The microbiology of apples and apple products.

PubMed

Doores, S

1983-01-01

The apple industry has reached an annual production level of 8.5 billion pounds. CA storage of 25% of this crop has enabled a fresh market on a year-round basis. To achieve high quality in raw fruit and processed apple products, careful attention must be paid to maintaining a microbiologically stable environment. The ecology of the microflora associated with the apple is a reflection of the orchard, handling, harvesting, and storage practices. Yeasts predominate on orchard fruit, molds may become a storage problem, and bacteria cause spoilage, off flavors, and loss of quality in juice products. Despite the microbial problems inherent in producing of quality product, the apple industry is faced with the occurrence of patulin. Patulin, a mycotoxin produced by Penicillium and Aspergillus species, has been associated with damaged fruit. Decreased temperatures, coupled with CA storage; can deter mold growth and patulin production. Laboratory detection methods for derivations of patulin are able to detect microgram quantities. Means to eliminate patulin formed in apple products include addition of ascorbate and SO2, extending fermentation, or charcoal filtering. However, degradation products of patulin have not been evaluated toxicologically.

Variable-Period Undulators For Synchrotron Radiation

DOEpatents

Shenoy, Gopal; Lewellen, John; Shu, Deming; Vinokurov, Nikolai

2005-02-22

A new and improved undulator design is provided that enables a variable period length for the production of synchrotron radiation from both medium-energy and high-energy storage rings. The variable period length is achieved using a staggered array of pole pieces made up of high permeability material, permanent magnet material, or an electromagnetic structure. The pole pieces are separated by a variable width space. The sum of the variable width space and the pole width would therefore define the period of the undulator. Features and advantages of the invention include broad photon energy tunability, constant power operation and constant brilliance operation.

MEMS microphone innovations towards high signal to noise ratios (Conference Presentation) (Plenary Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dehé, Alfons

2017-06-01

After decades of research and more than ten years of successful production in very high volumes Silicon MEMS microphones are mature and unbeatable in form factor and robustness. Audio applications such as video, noise cancellation and speech recognition are key differentiators in smart phones. Microphones with low self-noise enable those functions. Backplate-free microphones enter the signal to noise ratios above 70dB(A). This talk will describe state of the art MEMS technology of Infineon Technologies. An outlook on future technologies such as the comb sensor microphone will be given.

Rapid Prototyping of Slot Die Devices for Roll to Roll Production of EL Fibers

PubMed Central

Bellingham, Alyssa; Bromhead, Nicholas; Fontecchio, Adam

2017-01-01

There is a growing interest in fibers supporting optoelectrical properties for textile and wearable display applications. Solution-processed electroluminescent (EL) material systems can be continuously deposited onto fiber or yarn substrates in a roll-to-roll process, making it easy to scale manufacturing. It is important to have precise control over layer deposition to achieve uniform and reliable light emission from these EL fibers. Slot-die coating offers this control and increases the rate of EL fiber production. Here, we report a highly adaptable, cost-effective 3D printing model for developing slot dies used in automatic coating systems. The resulting slot-die coating system enables rapid, reliable production of alternating current powder-based EL (ACPEL) fibers and can be adapted for many material systems. The benefits of this system over dip-coating for roll-to-roll production of EL fibers are demonstrated in this work. PMID:28772954

Impact of scaffold rigidity on the design and evolution of an artificial Diels-Alderase

PubMed Central

Preiswerk, Nathalie; Beck, Tobias; Schulz, Jessica D.; Milovník, Peter; Mayer, Clemens; Siegel, Justin B.; Baker, David; Hilvert, Donald

2014-01-01

By combining targeted mutagenesis, computational refinement, and directed evolution, a modestly active, computationally designed Diels-Alderase was converted into the most proficient biocatalyst for [4+2] cycloadditions known. The high stereoselectivity and minimal product inhibition of the evolved enzyme enabled preparative scale synthesis of a single product diastereomer. X-ray crystallography of the enzyme–product complex shows that the molecular changes introduced over the course of optimization, including addition of a lid structure, gradually reshaped the pocket for more effective substrate preorganization and transition state stabilization. The good overall agreement between the experimental structure and the original design model with respect to the orientations of both the bound product and the catalytic side chains contrasts with other computationally designed enzymes. Because design accuracy appears to correlate with scaffold rigidity, improved control over backbone conformation will likely be the key to future efforts to design more efficient enzymes for diverse chemical reactions. PMID:24847076

Emerging technology: A key enabler for modernizing pharmaceutical manufacturing and advancing product quality.

PubMed

O'Connor, Thomas F; Yu, Lawrence X; Lee, Sau L

2016-07-25

Issues in product quality have produced recalls and caused drug shortages in United States (U.S.) in the past few years. These quality issues were often due to outdated manufacturing technologies and equipment as well as lack of an effective quality management system. To ensure consistent supply of safe, effective and high-quality drug products available to the patients, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) supports modernizing pharmaceutical manufacturing for improvements in product quality. Specifically, five new initiatives are proposed here to achieve this goal. They include: (i) advancing regulatory science for pharmaceutical manufacturing; (ii) establishing a public-private institute for pharmaceutical manufacturing innovation; (iii) creating incentives for investment in the technological upgrade of manufacturing processes and facilities; (iv) leveraging external expertise for regulatory quality assessment of emerging technologies; and (v) promoting the international harmonization of approaches for expediting the global adoption of emerging technologies. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Rapid Prototyping of Slot Die Devices for Roll to Roll Production of EL Fibers.

PubMed

Bellingham, Alyssa; Bromhead, Nicholas; Fontecchio, Adam

2017-05-29

There is a growing interest in fibers supporting optoelectrical properties for textile and wearable display applications. Solution-processed electroluminescent (EL) material systems can be continuously deposited onto fiber or yarn substrates in a roll-to-roll process, making it easy to scale manufacturing. It is important to have precise control over layer deposition to achieve uniform and reliable light emission from these EL fibers. Slot-die coating offers this control and increases the rate of EL fiber production. Here, we report a highly adaptable, cost-effective 3D printing model for developing slot dies used in automatic coating systems. The resulting slot-die coating system enables rapid, reliable production of alternating current powder-based EL (ACPEL) fibers and can be adapted for many material systems. The benefits of this system over dip-coating for roll-to-roll production of EL fibers are demonstrated in this work.

Cost-effective monolithic and hybrid integration for metro and long-haul applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clayton, Rick; Carter, Andy; Betty, Ian; Simmons, Timothy

2003-12-01

Today's telecommunication market is characterized by conservative business practices: tight management of costs, low risk investing and incremental upgrades, rather than the more freewheeling approach taken a few years ago. Optimizing optical components for the current and near term market involves substantial integration, but within particular bounds. The emphasis on evolution, in particular, has led to increased standardization of functions and so created extensive opportunities for integrated product offerings. The same standardization that enables commercially successful integrated functions also changes the competitive environment, and changes the emphasis for component development; shifting the innovation priority from raw performance to delivering the most effective integrated products. This paper will discuss, with specific examples from our transmitter, receiver and passives product families, our understanding of the issues based on extensive experience in delivering high end integrated products to the market, and the direction it drives optical components.

Counterfeits or Shanzhai? The Role of Face and Brand Consciousness in Luxury Copycat Consumption.

PubMed

Jiang, Ling; Shan, Juan

2016-08-01

This study responds to the emergence of the Shanzhai phenomenon in the international marketplace and introduces the Shanzhai phenomenon into the consumer behavior literature by defining it and comparing it with well-known concepts like luxury counterfeits. More specifically, it examines how consumers' face and brand consciousness influence their willingness to buy luxury counterfeits rather than Shanzhai products. The results show that consumers who are more face conscious are more likely to choose luxury counterfeits than Shanzhai products. In addition, consumers' face consciousness elicits a high concern for well-known brands, which also in turn leads to a more favorable attitude toward luxury counterfeits than Shanzhai products. These findings enable researchers to better understand consumers' responses toward both Shanzhai and counterfeit products and help companies that are protecting their original brands to tailor their consumer-directed measures more effectively. © The Author(s) 2016.

Co-production of acetone and ethanol with molar ratio control enables production of improved gasoline or jet fuel blends.

PubMed

Baer, Zachary C; Bormann, Sebastian; Sreekumar, Sanil; Grippo, Adam; Toste, F Dean; Blanch, Harvey W; Clark, Douglas S

2016-10-01

The fermentation of simple sugars to ethanol has been the most successful biofuel process to displace fossil fuel consumption worldwide thus far. However, the physical properties of ethanol and automotive components limit its application in most cases to 10-15 vol% blends with conventional gasoline. Fermentative co-production of ethanol and acetone coupled with a catalytic alkylation reaction could enable the production of gasoline blendstocks enriched in higher-chain oxygenates. Here we demonstrate a synthetic pathway for the production of acetone through the mevalonate precursor hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA. Expression of this pathway in various strains of Escherichia coli resulted in the co-production of acetone and ethanol. Metabolic engineering and control of the environmental conditions for microbial growth resulted in controllable acetone and ethanol production with ethanol:acetone molar ratios ranging from 0.7:1 to 10.0:1. Specifically, use of gluconic acid as a substrate increased production of acetone and balanced the redox state of the system, predictively reducing the molar ethanol:acetone ratio. Increases in ethanol production and the molar ethanol:acetone ratio were achieved by co-expression of the aldehyde/alcohol dehydrogenase (AdhE) from E. coli MG1655 and by co-expression of pyruvate decarboxylase (Pdc) and alcohol dehydrogenase (AdhB) from Z. mobilis. Controlling the fermentation aeration rate and pH in a bioreactor raised the acetone titer to 5.1 g L(-1) , similar to that obtained with wild-type Clostridium acetobutylicum. Optimizing the metabolic pathway, the selection of host strain, and the physiological conditions employed for host growth together improved acetone titers over 35-fold (0.14-5.1 g/L). Finally, chemical catalysis was used to upgrade the co-produced ethanol and acetone at both low and high molar ratios to higher-chain oxygenates for gasoline and jet fuel applications. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2016;113: 2079-2087. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Changes in European legislation make it timely to introduce a transparent market surveillance system for cosmetics.

PubMed

Lodén, Marie; Ungerth, Louise; Serup, Jørgen

2007-01-01

Marketing of cosmetics often makes strong claims linked to active ingredients. This is especially so for anti-ageing products, where the presentation and content of "active" ingredients may create new difficulties in their classification as cosmetics or medicinal products. A recent change in European legislation classifies a product as medicinal by virtue of its "function", in addition to the previous definition of "presentation" (i.e. marketing linked to diseases). Thus, formulations that also restore, correct or modify physiological functions by exerting a pharmacological, immunological or metabolic action should henceforth be covered by the Medicinal Products Directive. A cosmetic product must be suitable for its purpose and should not lead to adverse reactions that are disproportional in relation to its intended effect. However, the forthcoming ban on animal testing of cosmetic ingredients and the new European regulation, REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals), which aims to ensure a high level of chemical safety to protect human health and the environment, will probably have limited impact on the safety assessment of cosmetics. In order to enable consumers to make informed purchasing decisions, greater transparency in the process of assessing the performance of cosmetics is needed. Introduction of a more transparent system, enabling consumers and professionals to examine the scientific evidence for the claimed effect and the safety assessment of cosmetics, is therefore timely. Lack of transparency increases the risk of consumers wasting money on cosmetics that do not deliver the desired effects. This may jeopardize public trust in the cosmetic industry.

Enabling optical metrology on small 5×5μm2 in-cell targets to support flexible sampling and higher order overlay and CD control for advanced logic devices nodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salerno, Antonio; de la Fuente, Isabel; Hsu, Zack; Tai, Alan; Chang, Hammer; McNamara, Elliott; Cramer, Hugo; Li, Daoping

2018-03-01

In next generation Logic devices, overlay control requirements shrink to sub 2.5nm level on-product overlay. Historically on-product overlay has been defined by the overlay capability of after-develop in-scribe targets. However, due to design and dimension, the after development metrology targets are not completely representative for the final overlay of the device. In addition, they are confined to the scribe-lane area, which limits the sampling possibilities. To address these two issues, metrology on structures matching the device structure and which can be sampled with high density across the device is required. Conventional after-etch CDSEM techniques on logic devices present difficulties in discerning the layers of interest, potential destructive charging effects and finally, they are limited by the long measurement times[1] [2] [3] . All together, limit the sampling densities and making CDSEM less attractive for control applications. Optical metrology can overcome most of these limitations. Such measurement, however, does require repetitive structures. This requirement is not fulfilled by logic devices, as the features vary in pitch and CD over the exposure field. The solution is to use small targets, with a maximum pad size of 5x5um2 , which can easily be placed in the logic cell area. These targets share the process and architecture of the device features of interest, but with a modified design that replicates as close as possible the device layout, allowing for in-device metrology for both CD and Overlay. This solution enables measuring closer to the actual product feature location and, not being limited to scribe-lanes, it opens the possibility of higher-density sampling schemes across the field. In summary, these targets become the facilitator of in-device metrology (IDM), that is, enabling the measurements both in-device Overlay and the CD parameters of interest and can deliver accurate, high-throughput, dense and after-etch measurements for Logic. Overlay improvements derived from a high-densely sampled Overlay map measured with 5x5 um2 In Device Metrology (IDM) targets were investigated on a customer Logic application. In this work we present both the main design aspects of the 5x5 um2 IDM targets, as well as the results on the improved Overlay performance.

Army Air Ambulance Blood Product Program in the Combat Zone and Challenges to Best Practices.

PubMed

Powell-Dunford, Nicole; Quesada, Jose F; Gross, Kirby R; Shackelford, Stacy A

2016-08-01

Identify challenges and best practices in the development of an austere air ambulance transfusion program. A search of PubMed using combinations of the key terms 'prehospital,' 'blood product,' 'red blood cells,' 'damage control resuscitation,' 'transfusion,' 'air ambulance,' 'medical evacuation,' and 'medevac' yielded 196 articles for further analysis, with 14 articles suitable for addressing the background of prehospital transfusion within a helicopter. Retrospective analysis of unclassified briefs, after action reports, and procedures was also undertaken along with interview of subject matter experts. The initial series of 15 transfusions were discussed telephonically among flight crew, trauma surgeons, and lab specialists. Review of Joint Theater System data was readily available for 84 U.S. Army air ambulance transfusions between May-December 2012, with December marking the redeployment of the 25(th) Combat Aviation Brigade. Standardized implementation enabled safe blood product administration for 84 causalities from May-December 2012 without blood product shortage, expiration, or transfusion reaction. Challenges included developing transfusion competency, achieving high quality blood support, countering the potential for anti-U.S. sentiment, and diversity in coalition transfusion practices. Blood product administration aboard the air ambulance is logistically complex, requiring blood bank integration. Repetitive training enabled emergency medical technicians (EMTs) with basic medical training to safely perform transfusion in accordance with clinical operating guidelines. In the austere environment, logistic factors are significant challenges and political sensitivities are important considerations. Best practices may facilitate new en route transfusion programs. Powell-Dunford N, Quesada JF, Gross KR, Shackelford SA. Army air ambulance blood product program in the combat zone and challenges to best practices. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(8):728-734.

Proteomic analysis of processing by-products from canned and fresh tuna: identification of potentially functional food proteins.

PubMed

Sanmartín, Esther; Arboleya, Juan Carlos; Iloro, Ibon; Escuredo, Kepa; Elortza, Felix; Moreno, F Javier

2012-09-15

Proteomic approaches have been used to identify the main proteins present in processing by-products generated by the canning tuna-industry, as well as in by-products derived from filleting of skeletal red muscle of fresh tuna. Following fractionation by using an ammonium sulphate precipitation method, three proteins (tropomyosin, haemoglobin and the stress-shock protein ubiquitin) were identified in the highly heterogeneous and heat-treated material discarded by the canning-industry. Additionally, this fractionation method was successful to obtain tropomyosin of high purity from the heterogeneous starting material. By-products from skeletal red muscle of fresh tuna were efficiently fractionated to sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar fractions, prior to the identification based mainly on the combined searching of the peptide mass fingerprint (MALDI-TOF) and peptide fragment fingerprinting (MALDI LIFT-TOF/TOF) spectra of fifteen bands separated by 1D SDS-PAGE. Thus, the sarcoplasmic fraction contained myoglobin and several enzymes that are essential for efficient energy production, whereas the myofibrillar fraction had important contractile proteins, such as actin, tropomyosin, myosin or an isoform of the enzyme creatine kinase. Application of proteomic technologies has revealed new knowledge on the composition of important by-products from tuna species, enabling a better evaluation of their potential applications. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

From research to production: field induced electro-mechanical polymer-transducer (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kovacs, Gabor M.

2017-04-01

In the past decades the development of compliant dielectric materials, capable of storing high electric energy density, is the object of considerable research efforts for commercial applications. Compared to the widely used soft dielectrics as compliant insulators, only a small variety of commercially products based on dielectric polymer transducers are available on the market up to date. A whole bunch of research activities worldwide has created a lot of very useful knowledge; but many researchers have been faced to different obstacles to manufacture devices for demonstrations. However, building handy demonstrators is one of the most relevant action in order to attract the interest of decision makers of industrial companies. Moreover, low cost devices strictly require highly efficient production methods and facilities to become competitive on the market. This aspect contains the ultimate requirement especially for very high output rates and represents one of the major topic at most negotiations. All technological problems linked to this issue have been addressed only a little in the past R+D activities and are still widely not satisfactory solved. The present talk will provide an overview of the options for opening the door of industrial production of polymer transducers and the remaining obstacles to be solved for the next step. In particular, the most relevant actions to be taken for enabling high capacity production at very low cost will be discussed, which have an essential impact on the direction of future research activities.

A general high-speed laser drilling method for nonmetal thin material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, Zhijian; Xu, Guangsheng; Xu, Zhou; Xu, Zhiqiang

2013-05-01

Many nonmetal film products, such as herbal plaster, medical adhesive tape and farm plastic film, require drilling dense small holes to enhance the permeability without affecting the appearance. For many medium and small enterprises, a low-cost, high-speed laser drilling machine with the ability of processing different kinds of nonmetal material is highly demanded. In this paper, we proposed a general purpose high-speed laser drilling method for micro-hole production on thin nonmetal film. The system utilizes a rotating polygonal mirror to perform high-speed laser scan, which is simpler and more efficient than the oscillating mirror scan. In this system, an array of closepacked paraboloid mirrors is mounted on the laser scan track to focus the high-power laser onto the material sheet, which could produce up to twenty holes in a single scan. The design of laser scan and focusing optics is optimized to obtain the best holes' quality, and the mirrors can be flexibly adjusted to get different drilling parameters. The use of rotating polygonal mirror scan and close-packed mirror array focusing greatly improves the drilling productivity to enable the machine producing thirty thousand holes per minute. With proper design, the hold uniformity can also get improved. In this paper, the detailed optical and mechanical design is illustrated, the high-speed laser drilling principle is introduced and the preliminary experimental results are presented.

A novel approach: high resolution inspection with wafer plane defect detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hess, Carl; Wihl, Mark; Shi, Rui-fang; Xiong, Yalin; Pang, Song

2008-05-01

High Resolution reticle inspection is well-established as a proven, effective, and efficient means of detecting yield-limiting mask defects as well as defects which are not immediately yield-limiting yet can enable manufacturing process improvements. Historically, RAPID products have enabled detection of both classes of these defects. The newly-developed Wafer Plane Inspection (WPI) detector technology meets the needs of some advanced mask manufacturers to identify the lithographically-significant defects while ignoring the other non-lithographically-significant defects. Wafer Plane Inspection accomplishes this goal by performing defect detection based on a modeled image of how the mask features would actually print in the photoresist. This has the effect of reducing sensitivity to non-printing defects while enabling higher sensitivity focused in high MEEF areas where small reticle defects still yield significant printing defects on wafers. WPI is a new inspection mode that has been developed by KLA-Tencor and is currently under test with multiple customers. It employs the same transmitted and reflected-light high-resolution images as the industry-standard high-resolution inspections, but with much more sophisticated processing involved. A rigorous mask pattern recovery algorithm is used to convert the transmitted and reflected light images into a modeled representation of the reticle. Lithographic modeling of the scanner is then used to generate an aerial image of the mask. This is followed by resist modeling to determine the exposure of the photoresist. The defect detectors are then applied on this photoresist plane so that only printing defects are detected. Note that no hardware modifications to the inspection system are required to enable this detector. The same tool will be able to perform both our standard High Resolution inspections and the Wafer Plane Inspection detector. This approach has several important features. The ability to ignore non-printing defects and to apply additional effective sensitivity in high MEEF areas enables advanced node development. In addition, the modeling allows the inclusion of important polarization effects that occur in the resist for high NA operation. This allows for the results to better match wafer print results compared to alternate approaches. Finally, the simulation easily allows for the application of arbitrary illumination profiles. With this approach, users of WPI can make use of unique or custom scanner illumination profiles. This allows the more precise modeling of profiles without inspection system hardware modification or loss of company intellectual property. This paper examines WPI in Die:Die mode. Future work includes a review of Die:Database WPI capability.

High productivity chromatography refolding process for Hepatitis B Virus X (HBx) protein guided by statistical design of experiment studies.

PubMed

Basu, Anindya; Leong, Susanna Su Jan

2012-02-03

The Hepatitis B Virus X (HBx) protein is a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. However, consistent expression of the protein as insoluble inclusion bodies in bacteria host systems has largely hindered HBx manufacturing via economical biosynthesis routes, thereby impeding the development of anti-HBx therapeutic strategies. To eliminate this roadblock, this work reports the development of the first 'chromatography refolding'-based bioprocess for HBx using immobilised metal affinity chromatography (IMAC). This process enabled production of HBx at quantities and purity that facilitate their direct use in structural and molecular characterization studies. In line with the principles of quality by design (QbD), we used a statistical design of experiments (DoE) methodology to design the optimum process which delivered bioactive HBx at a productivity of 0.21 mg/ml/h at a refolding yield of 54% (at 10 mg/ml refolding concentration), which was 4.4-fold higher than that achieved in dilution refolding. The systematic DoE methodology adopted for this study enabled us to obtain important insights into the effect of different bioprocess parameters like the effect of buffer exchange gradients on HBx productivity and quality. Such a bioprocess design approach can play a pivotal role in developing intensified processes for other novel proteins, and hence helping to resolve validation and speed-to-market challenges faced by the biopharmaceutical industry today. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Gravure printing of graphene for large-area flexible electronics.

PubMed

Secor, Ethan B; Lim, Sooman; Zhang, Heng; Frisbie, C Daniel; Francis, Lorraine F; Hersam, Mark C

2014-07-09

Gravure printing of graphene is demonstrated for the rapid production of conductive patterns on flexible substrates. Development of suitable inks and printing parameters enables the fabrication of patterns with a resolution down to 30 μm. A mild annealing step yields conductive lines with high reliability and uniformity, providing an efficient method for the integration of graphene into large-area printed and flexible electronics. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Commercialization of microfluidic devices.

PubMed

Volpatti, Lisa R; Yetisen, Ali K

2014-07-01

Microfluidic devices offer automation and high-throughput screening, and operate at low volumes of consumables. Although microfluidics has the potential to reduce turnaround times and costs for analytical devices, particularly in medical, veterinary, and environmental sciences, this enabling technology has had limited diffusion into consumer products. This article analyzes the microfluidics market, identifies issues, and highlights successful commercialization strategies. Addressing niche markets and establishing compatibility with existing workflows will accelerate market penetration. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The power of digital audio in interactive instruction: An unexploited medium

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pratt, J.; Trainor, M.

1989-01-01

Widespread use of audio in computer-based training (CBT) occurred with the advent of the interactive videodisc technology. This paper discusses the alternative of digital audio, which, unlike videodisc audio, enables one to rapidly revise the audio used in the CBT and which may be used in nonvideo CBT applications as well. We also discuss techniques used in audio script writing, editing, and production. Results from evaluations indicate a high degree of user satisfaction. 4 refs.

FermiGrid

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yocum, D.R.; Berman, E.; Canal, P.

2007-05-01

As one of the founding members of the Open Science Grid Consortium (OSG), Fermilab enables coherent access to its production resources through the Grid infrastructure system called FermiGrid. This system successfully provides for centrally managed grid services, opportunistic resource access, development of OSG Interfaces for Fermilab, and an interface to the Fermilab dCache system. FermiGrid supports virtual organizations (VOs) including high energy physics experiments (USCMS, MINOS, D0, CDF, ILC), astrophysics experiments (SDSS, Auger, DES), biology experiments (GADU, Nanohub) and educational activities.

Hydrogen Gas-Mediated Deoxydehydration/Hydrogenation of Sugar Acids: Catalytic Conversion of Glucarates to Adipates.

PubMed

Larson, Reed T; Samant, Andrew; Chen, Jianbin; Lee, Woojin; Bohn, Martin A; Ohlmann, Dominik M; Zuend, Stephan J; Toste, F Dean

2017-10-11

The development of a system for the operationally simple, scalable conversion of polyhydroxylated biomass into industrially relevant feedstock chemicals is described. This system includes a bimetallic Pd/Re catalyst in combination with hydrogen gas as a terminal reductant and enables the high-yielding reduction of sugar acids. This procedure has been applied to the synthesis of adipate esters, precursors for the production of Nylon-6,6, in excellent yield from biomass-derived sources.

Fuzzy logic controllers: A knowledge-based system perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bonissone, Piero P.

1993-01-01

Over the last few years we have seen an increasing number of applications of Fuzzy Logic Controllers. These applications range from the development of auto-focus cameras, to the control of subway trains, cranes, automobile subsystems (automatic transmissions), domestic appliances, and various consumer electronic products. In summary, we consider a Fuzzy Logic Controller to be a high level language with its local semantics, interpreter, and compiler, which enables us to quickly synthesize non-linear controllers for dynamic systems.

Phytoremediation of Ionic and Methylmercury Pollution

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Richard Meagher

Phytoremediation is defined as the use of plants to extract, resist, detoxify, and/or sequester toxic environmental pollutants. The long-term goal of the proposed research is to develop and test highly productive, field-adapted plant species that have been engineered for the phytoremediation of mercury. A variety of different genes, which should enable plants to clean mercury polluted sites are being tested as tools for mercury phytoremediation, first in model laboratory plants and then in potential field species.

Breakthrough: Better Fiber for Better Products

ScienceCinema

Griffith, George; Garnier, John

2018-01-08

Researchers at Idaho National Laboratory have developed a cost-effective method for the continuous production of alpha silicon carbide fiber. The exceptionally strong, lightweight fiber could enable significant performance improvements in many everyday products.

Nanofiller Presence Enhances Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) Profile on Nanoparticles Released during Thermal Decomposition of Nano-enabled Thermoplastics: Potential Environmental Health Implications.

PubMed

Singh, Dilpreet; Schifman, Laura Arabella; Watson-Wright, Christa; Sotiriou, Georgios A; Oyanedel-Craver, Vinka; Wohlleben, Wendel; Demokritou, Philip

2017-05-02

Nano-enabled products are ultimately destined to reach end-of-life with an important fraction undergoing thermal degradation through waste incineration or accidental fires. Although previous studies have investigated the physicochemical properties of released lifecycle particulate matter (called LCPM) from thermal decomposition of nano-enabled thermoplastics, critical questions about the effect of nanofiller on the chemical composition of LCPM still persist. Here, we investigate the potential nanofiller effects on the profiles of 16 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) adsorbed on LCPM from thermal decomposition of nano-enabled thermoplastics. We found that nanofiller presence in thermoplastics significantly enhances not only the total PAH concentration in LCPM but most importantly also the high molecular weight (HMW, 4-6 ring) PAHs that are considerably more toxic than the low molecular weight (LMW, 2-3 ring) PAHs. This nano-specific effect was also confirmed during in vitro cellular toxicological evaluation of LCPM for the case of polyurethane thermoplastic enabled with carbon nanotubes (PU-CNT). LCPM from PU-CNT shows significantly higher cytotoxicity compared to PU which could be attributed to its higher HMW PAH concentration. These findings are crucial and make the case that nanofiller presence in thermoplastics can significantly affect the physicochemical and toxicological properties of LCPM released during thermal decomposition.

Simple Purification of Nicotiana benthamiana-Produced Recombinant Colicins: High-Yield Recovery of Purified Proteins with Minimum Alkaloid Content Supports the Suitability of the Host for Manufacturing Food Additives.

PubMed

Stephan, Anett; Hahn-Löbmann, Simone; Rosche, Fred; Buchholz, Mirko; Giritch, Anatoli; Gleba, Yuri

2017-12-29

Colicins are natural non-antibiotic bacterial proteins with a narrow spectrum but an extremely high antibacterial activity. These proteins are promising food additives for the control of major pathogenic Shiga toxin-producing E. coli serovars in meats and produce. In the USA, colicins produced in edible plants such as spinach and leafy beets have already been accepted by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as food-processing antibacterials through the GRAS (generally recognized as safe) regulatory review process. Nicotiana benthamiana , a wild relative of tobacco, N. tabacum , has become the preferred production host plant for manufacturing recombinant proteins-including biopharmaceuticals, vaccines, and biomaterials-but the purification procedures that have been employed thus far are highly complex and costly. We describe a simple and inexpensive purification method based on specific acidic extraction followed by one chromatography step. The method provides for a high recovery yield of purified colicins, as well as a drastic reduction of nicotine to levels that could enable the final products to be used on food. The described purification method allows production of the colicin products at a commercially viable cost of goods and might be broadly applicable to other cost-sensitive proteins.

Conceptual process design and techno-economic assessment of ex situ catalytic fast pyrolysis of biomass: A fixed bed reactor implementation scenario for future feasibility

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dutta, Abhijit; Schaidle, Joshua A.; Humbird, David

Ex situ catalytic fast pyrolysis of biomass is a promising route for the production of fungible liquid biofuels. There is significant ongoing research on the design and development of catalysts for this process. However, there are a limited number of studies investigating process configurations and their effects on biorefinery economics. Herein we present a conceptual process design with techno-economic assessment; it includes the production of upgraded bio-oil via fixed bed ex situ catalytic fast pyrolysis followed by final hydroprocessing to hydrocarbon fuel blendstocks. This study builds upon previous work using fluidized bed systems, as detailed in a recent design reportmore » led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL/TP-5100-62455); overall yields are assumed to be similar, and are based on enabling future feasibility. Assuming similar yields provides a basis for easy comparison and for studying the impacts of areas of focus in this study, namely, fixed bed reactor configurations and their catalyst development requirements, and the impacts of an inline hot gas filter. A comparison with the fluidized bed system shows that there is potential for higher capital costs and lower catalyst costs in the fixed bed system, leading to comparable overall costs. The key catalyst requirement is to enable the effective transformation of highly oxygenated biomass into hydrocarbons products with properties suitable for blending into current fuels. Potential catalyst materials are discussed, along with their suitability for deoxygenation, hydrogenation and C–C coupling chemistry. This chemistry is necessary during pyrolysis vapor upgrading for improved bio-oil quality, which enables efficient downstream hydroprocessing; C–C coupling helps increase the proportion of diesel/jet fuel range product. One potential benefit of fixed bed upgrading over fluidized bed upgrading is catalyst flexibility, providing greater control over chemistry and product composition. Since this study is based on future projections, the impacts of uncertainties in the underlying assumptions are quantified via sensitivity analysis. As a result, this analysis indicates that catalyst researchers should prioritize by: carbon efficiency > catalyst cost > catalyst lifetime, after initially testing for basic operational feasibility.« less

Conceptual process design and techno-economic assessment of ex situ catalytic fast pyrolysis of biomass: A fixed bed reactor implementation scenario for future feasibility

DOE PAGES

Dutta, Abhijit; Schaidle, Joshua A.; Humbird, David; ...

2015-10-06

Ex situ catalytic fast pyrolysis of biomass is a promising route for the production of fungible liquid biofuels. There is significant ongoing research on the design and development of catalysts for this process. However, there are a limited number of studies investigating process configurations and their effects on biorefinery economics. Herein we present a conceptual process design with techno-economic assessment; it includes the production of upgraded bio-oil via fixed bed ex situ catalytic fast pyrolysis followed by final hydroprocessing to hydrocarbon fuel blendstocks. This study builds upon previous work using fluidized bed systems, as detailed in a recent design reportmore » led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL/TP-5100-62455); overall yields are assumed to be similar, and are based on enabling future feasibility. Assuming similar yields provides a basis for easy comparison and for studying the impacts of areas of focus in this study, namely, fixed bed reactor configurations and their catalyst development requirements, and the impacts of an inline hot gas filter. A comparison with the fluidized bed system shows that there is potential for higher capital costs and lower catalyst costs in the fixed bed system, leading to comparable overall costs. The key catalyst requirement is to enable the effective transformation of highly oxygenated biomass into hydrocarbons products with properties suitable for blending into current fuels. Potential catalyst materials are discussed, along with their suitability for deoxygenation, hydrogenation and C–C coupling chemistry. This chemistry is necessary during pyrolysis vapor upgrading for improved bio-oil quality, which enables efficient downstream hydroprocessing; C–C coupling helps increase the proportion of diesel/jet fuel range product. One potential benefit of fixed bed upgrading over fluidized bed upgrading is catalyst flexibility, providing greater control over chemistry and product composition. Since this study is based on future projections, the impacts of uncertainties in the underlying assumptions are quantified via sensitivity analysis. As a result, this analysis indicates that catalyst researchers should prioritize by: carbon efficiency > catalyst cost > catalyst lifetime, after initially testing for basic operational feasibility.« less

Detection of Cyanotoxins in Algae Dietary Supplements

PubMed Central

Roy-Lachapelle, Audrey; Solliec, Morgan; Bouchard, Maryse F.; Sauvé, Sébastien

2017-01-01

Algae dietary supplements are marketed worldwide as natural health products. Although their proprieties have been claimed as beneficial to improve overall health, there have been several previous reports of contamination by cyanotoxins. These products generally contain non-toxic cyanobacteria, but the methods of cultivation in natural waters without appropriate quality controls allow contamination by toxin producer species present in the natural environment. In this study, we investigated the presence of total microcystins, seven individual microcystins (RR, YR, LR, LA, LY, LW, LF), anatoxin-a, dihydroanatoxin-a, epoxyanatoxin-a, cylindrospermopsin, saxitoxin, and β-methylamino-l-alanine in 18 different commercially available products containing Spirulina or Aphanizomenon flos-aquae. Total microcystins analysis was accomplished using a Lemieux oxidation and a chemical derivatization using dansyl chloride was needed for the simultaneous analysis of cylindrospermopsin, saxitoxin, and β-methylamino-l-alanine. Moreover, the use of laser diode thermal desorption (LDTD) and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) both coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) enabled high performance detection and quantitation. Out of the 18 products analyzed, 8 contained some cyanotoxins at levels exceeding the tolerable daily intake values. The presence of cyanotoxins in these algal dietary supplements reinforces the need for a better quality control as well as consumer’s awareness on the potential risks associated with the consumption of these supplements. PMID:28245621