The power of a thousand suns!

Posted on April 24, 2013 by sksrinivas

ibm-solar-photovoltaicsIBM is rethinking the solar panel.

A team of scientists led by the tech company has been awarded a three year $2.4 million grant to develop a solar power generator that’s capable of concentrating the power of 2,000 suns and converting 80 percent of incoming radiation into energy.

IBM Research will work collaboratively with Airlight Energy, ETH Zurich, and Interstate University of Applied Sciences Buchs NTB to develop and test prototypes of the High Concentration PhotoVoltaic Thermal (HCPVT) system. One model already exists at the IBM Research lab in Zurich, and more will be built in Switzerland’s Biasca and Rüschlikon. According to the scientists, the HCPVT system can be built at less than $250 per square meter, about a third of the cost of comparable systems.

The HCPVT system is made up of a large parabolic dish that uses many mirror facets to reflect the sun’s rays onto receivers laden with hundreds of small high-efficiency PV chips to generate 25 kilowatts of power. Measuring a square centimeter each, the triple-junction photovoltaic cells can convert an average of 200-250 watts over an eight-hour day in a region where the sun is strong.

In addition to renewable energy, such a solar system can also provide drinking water and air conditioning using water byproduct. Similar to cooling systems for supercomputers, the HCPVT system passes 90-degree Celsius water through a porous membrane distillation system, a process that’s said to be 10 times more effective than passive air cooling. After the water is vaporized and desalinated, it can provide 30 to 40 liters of drinkable water per square meter. A larger installation, according to the researchers, could provide enough water for a small town. This cooling system could also provide air conditioning with a thermal-driven adsorption chiller, which unlike traditional compression chillers, doesn’t have an impact on the ozone layer.

While prototypes will be tested in Switzerland, the scientists envision the HCPVT system being used in Southern Europe, Africa, the Arabic peninsula, the American southwest, South America, and Australia. Furthermore, they see the opportunity for remote locations to utilize such a system for entirely infrastructure-independent energy and fresh water.

Source: Dvice.com

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Scientists reverse memory loss in brain cells …

Posted on April 18, 2013 by sksrinivas

Neuroscientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have taken a major step in their efforts to help people with memory loss tied to brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.

neuronsUsing sea snail nerve cells, the scientists reversed memory loss by determining when the cells were primed for learning. The scientists were able to help the cells compensate for memory loss by retraining them through the use of optimized training schedules. Findings of this proof-of-principle study appear in the April 17 issue ofThe Journal of Neuroscience.

“Although much works remains to be done, we have demonstrated the feasibility of our new strategy to help overcome memory deficits,” said John “Jack” Byrne, Ph.D., the study’s senior author, as well as director of the W.M. Keck Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory and chairman of the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy at the UTHealth Medical School.

This latest study builds on Byrne’s 2012 investigation that pioneered this memory enhancement strategy. The 2012 study showed a significant increase in long-term memory in healthy sea snails called Aplysia californica, an animal that has a simple nervous system, but with cells having properties similar to other more advanced species including humans.

Yili Zhang, Ph.D., the study’s co-lead author and a research scientist at the UTHealth Medical School, has developed a sophisticated mathematical model that can predict when the biochemical processes in the snail’s brain are primed for learning.

Her model is based on five training sessions scheduled at different time intervals ranging from 5 to 50 minutes. It can generate 10,000 different schedules and identify the schedule most attuned to optimum learning.

“The logical follow-up question was whether you could use the same strategy to overcome a deficit in memory,” Byrne said. “Memory is due to a change in the strength of the connections among neurons. In many diseases associated with memory deficits, the change is blocked.”

To test whether their strategy would help with memory loss, Rong-Yu Liu, Ph.D., co-lead author and senior research scientist at the UTHealth Medical School, simulated a brain disorder in a cell culture by taking sensory cells from the sea snails and blocking the activity of a gene that produces a memory protein. This resulted in a significant impairment in the strength of the neurons’ connections, which is responsible for long-term memory.

To mimic training sessions, cells were administered a chemical at intervals prescribed by the mathematical model. After five training sessions, which like the earlier study were at irregular intervals, the strength of the connections returned to near normal in the impaired cells.

“This methodology may apply to humans if we can identify the same biochemical processes in humans. Our results suggest a new strategy for treatments of cognitive impairment. Mathematical models might help design therapies that optimize the combination of training protocols with traditional drug treatments,” Byrne said.

He added, “Combining these two could enhance the effectiveness of the latter while compensating at least in part for any limitations or undesirable side effects of drugs. These two approaches are likely to be more effective together than separately and may have broad generalities in treating individuals with learning and memory deficits.”

Other co-authors from the UTHealth Medical School included: Douglas A. Baxter, Ph.D., professor; Paul Smolen, Ph.D., assistant professor; and Len Cleary, Ph.D., professor.

Source: Science Daily

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A new method to harness solar power …

Posted on February 27, 2013 by sksrinivas

130224142917-largeA new method of harvesting the Sun’s energy is emerging, thanks to scientists at UC Santa Barbara’s Departments of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and Materials. Though still in its infancy, the research promises to convert sunlight into energy using a process based on metals that are more robust than many of the semiconductors used in conventional methods.  The researchers’ findings are published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

“It is the first radically new and potentially workable alternative to semiconductor-based solar conversion devices to be developed in the past 70 years or so,” said Martin Moskovits, professor of chemistry at UCSB.

In conventional photoprocesses, a technology developed and used over the last century, sunlight hits the surface of semiconductor material, one side of which is electron-rich, while the other side is not. The photon, or light particle, excites the electrons, causing them to leave their postions, and create positively-charged “holes.” The result is a current of charged particles that can be captured and delivered for various uses, including powering lightbulbs, charging batteries, or facilitating chemical reactions.

In the technology developed by Moskovits and his team, it is not semiconductor materials that provide the electrons and venue for the conversion of solar energy, but nanostructured metals — a “forest” of gold nanorods, to be specific.

For this experiment, gold nanorods were capped with a layer of crystalline titanium dioxide decorated with platinum nanoparticles, and set in water. A cobalt-based oxidation catalyst was deposited on the lower portion of the array.

“When nanostructures, such as nanorods, of certain metals are exposed to visible light, the conduction electrons of the metal can be caused to oscillate collectively, absorbing a great deal of the light,” said Moskovits. “This excitation is called a surface plasmon.”

As the “hot” electrons in these plasmonic waves are excited by light particles, some travel up the nanorod, through a filter layer of crystalline titanium dioxide, and are captured by platinum particles. This causes the reaction that splits hydrogen ions from the bond that forms water. Meanwhile, the holes left behind by the excited electrons head toward the cobalt-based catalyst on the lower part of the rod to form oxygen.

According to the study, hydrogen production was clearly observable after about two hours. Additionally, the nanorods were not subject to the photocorrosion that often causes traditional semiconductor material to fail in minutes.

“The device operated with no hint of failure for many weeks,” Moskovits said.

The plasmonic method of splitting water is currently less efficient and more costly than conventional photoprocesses, but if the last century of photovoltaic technology has shown anything, it is that continued research will improve on the cost and efficiency of this new method — and likely in far less time than it took for the semiconductor-based technology,

Via: Science Daily

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How to analyse fatty acids using gas chromatography …

Posted on February 12, 2013 by sksrinivas

583px-Transesterification_FAME.svgWith an increased interest in studying the health effects of fatty acids, it is essential to understand the different means to analyze them. Fatty acid methylesters (FAME) are created from an alkali catalyzed reaction between fats or fatty acids and methanol. Fatty acid methyl esters can be analyzed through gas chromatography (GC).

In the esterification of fatty acids, the carboxyl group of an acid and the hydroxyl group of an alcohol are condensed.  Esterification is best done with a catalyst like boron trichloride.

Fatty acids are analyzed as FAME because fatty acids in their underivatized form are highly polar and tend to form hydrogen bonds that lead to absorption issues, thus making it difficult to analyze. Another reason is that polar carboxyl functional groups need to be neutralized to distinguish the slight differences exhibited by unsaturated fatty acids.

Other parameters used:

Parameter Reading
Oven 50°C, 2 min, 5°C/min, 240°C, 15 min
PTV 50°C, 0 min, 999°C/min, 400°C, 2 min
Carrier gas Helium, 1mL/min, constant flow; split flow: 50 mL/min, split ratio 1:50
FID 400°C
Column DN-WAX, 30m, 0.25mm, 0.25µm

Fatty acid methyl esters can be analyzed through fractionation, boiling point elution, degree of unsaturation, Omega 3 and omega 6 Fatty acids, Cis/trans configuration.

Fractionation

Fractionation of FAME is done through silver ion SPE tubes based on silver-ion chromatography. In this process, silver-ions gain the ability to form polar complexes with double bonds of unsaturated FAMEs. Under normal-phase conditions these silver-ions are anchored to the functional group through electrostatic interactions. This process allows the operator to see variations in the strength of interaction between FAMEs and silver counter-ions. These differences are then used for fractionation of cis and trans isomers through adjusting the strength of the elution solvent. Changes in elution solvent strength lead to cleaner chromatograms of FAME classes. Cleaner chromatograms are very useful in analyzing geometric isomers.

Boiling point elution

FAMEs can be analyzed through boiling point elution. A non-polar GC column is used in separating analytes in boiling point elution. This process of analysis is used for pattern recognition and fatty acid source determination when compared to patterns from recognized references with unique distributions. This process is also used to observe very slight differences among samples. The results of these observations are used for quality control of food manufacturers and the detection of fatty acid metabolism effects.

FAME Degree of unsaturation

Various methods are used to determine the unsaturation degree of particular substances. However, it can be difficult to determine the degree of fatty acid saturation in a product because of the saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids mixture. Therefore, a capillary GC column is needed. The GC column used in this process should be capable of resolving the large number of peaks that are required. It is also important that the GC column can exhibit the highest polarities of any GC phase using FAMEs.

FAME: Omega 3 and Omega 6 Fatty Acids

Omega 3 and Omega 6 are essential fat groups needed by the body for purposes such as influencing cell signalling, producing lipoxins and resolvins that affect inflammation and regulate blood pressure, lipid levels, gene expression, and immune response. Essential fats are exclusively obtained through the food that humans eat, since the body does not have the anabolic process for the synthesis of these acids.

Imbalanced ratio and levels of omega 3 or omega 6 can cause diseases, making it important to analyze the omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acid content of food. Specialized GC columns with the ability to test specific values of FAME equivalent chain length (ECL) are needed because Omega 3 and omega 6 FAMEs have very similar physical and chemical properties with other FAMEs in the sample.

FAMEs: Cis/Trans Fatty Acid Configuration

Trans fatty acids are synthetic additives in processed food that increase shelf life and flavour stability. However, trans fatty acids can interfere with the metabolic process increasing the risk of coronary artery disease. Because of this finding, consumer groups have pushed for the elimination of trans fatty acids in foods. Companies and food producers are now required to indicate the trans-fat levels present in the food.

Efficient capillary GC columns equipped with high polar phases are needed to distinguish the very slight differences between cis isomer FAMEs and trans isomer FAMEs. The high polarity makes separating the geometric (cis/trans) isomers possible.

Below is a chromatogram output using a DANI Master DC Base Unit. It is equipped with a Split-Splitless Injector System, an FID 86/C Detection System and a Master GC-AC 1 instrument. In the analysis, a GC 50 meter capillary column was used with a 0.32mm diameter and a 0.25µm- thick film. A 1 µL of sample was injected into a sample of olive oil to detect the amount of FAME cis/trans fatty acid present.

 Other parameters used:

Parameter Reading
Oven 150°C, 1°C/min, 190°C
Injector SL/IN, 250°C
Carrier gas Hydrogen, 60kPa, constant pressure
Split Ratio 1:100
Detector FID, 250°C
Column DN-10, 50m, 0.32mm, 0.25µm

Gas chromatography is essential in analyzing fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) for a healthy diet. Efficiency and specialized functions make analyzing the presences and determining the differences of fatty acid levels possible for consumers to make informed decisions on their food intake.

Original Source: Gchromatography.com

 

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Made in India … a wristwatch that protects women!

Posted on January 28, 2013 by sksrinivas

OB-WC532_iwatch_D_20130124083618Imagine you are walking. Alone. Down a dark street. A man approaches. He gets aggressive. What do you do next?

Look at your watch!

The Indian government unveiled early plans for a new device it hopes will reduce crimes against women. It is a watch that can alert authorities and family members that you feel you are in danger and start filming at the same time.

The initiative was unveiled by Kapil Sibal, information technology minister, earlier this week. He said the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, a unit within the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, is working on the proposed gadget. The government noted in a subsequent press release that it would be timely given “unfortunate incidents of crimes against women in particular.”

The wrist-borne device, Mr. Sibal said, would, upon the pressing of a button, send a text message to the nearest police station as well as pre-selected family members. A global positioning system within the watch would notify them of the wearer’s coordinates.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

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A breath test for cancer diagnosis

Posted on December 30, 2012 by sksrinivas

spectroscopy_purple_light_scatter_195_250Breath tests could potentially be used to help diagnose colorectal cancer, a new study has discovered.  The work was led by Donato F Altomare, managing director of the Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation at the University Aldo Moro of Bari, and published in the British Journal of Surgery as part of the Improving Outcomes in Gastrointestinal Cancer supplement.

Experts collected exhaled breath from 37 patients with colorectal cancer and 41 healthy controls which were processed offline to evaluate volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs of interest were located and selected, with patterns discriminating patients from controls set up.

To identify trends that discriminated most effectively between the two groups, a probabilistic neural network (PNN) was used, with findings indicating that those with colorectal cancer have a different selective VOC pattern in comparison with healthy controls.

This is based on an assessment of 15 of 58 specific compounds in breath samples.

The PNN in the research was able to discriminate patients with colorectal cancer with an accuracy rate of more than 75 per cent, as the model correctly assigned a total of 19 patients.

Mr Altomare explained: “The technique of breath sampling is very easy and non-invasive, although the method is still in the early phase of development.  Our study’s findings provide further support for the value of breath testing as a screening tool.”

A separate study by the University of Adelaide also investigated possible treatments for colorectal cancer, discovering that an extract of mistletoe grown on ash trees can be highly effective against colon-cancer cells.

Source: Labmate Online

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Finally … a touchscreen that you can actually feel.

Posted on December 3, 2012 by sksrinivas

No longer will we have to slave over smartphones with buttons you can’t touch. Finally, a touchscreen has been developed that feels like touching actual buttons.

Kyocera has created a touchscreen that, when you press buttons on it, it feels like you’re actually pushing a physical button. You can even choose between making it feel like a button or a soft-touch keyboard.

It works by using piezoelectricity (i.e. electricity resulting from pressure) to create an extremely high-speed, intense little vibration where you touch the keyboard. Thus, it feels like you’ve actually touched something.

While this might not seem like a big step, it can actually be pretty helpful: typing accuracy will go nowhere but up, and it’ll probably open up some pretty neat gaming opportunities.

Via Digital Trends

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Compact DNA analyser works in under 25 minutes …

Posted on November 29, 2012 by sksrinivas

In the paranoid future of the genetically discriminatory security state, your life will be defined by your DNA, and access will be controlled by machines that instantly read samples of your genetic code to verify your identiy. When will this all kick in? It won’t be long now, thanks to NEC’s new DNA analyzer that can brand you as an in-valid in under 25 minutes.

The current generation of NEC’s DNA analyzer takes about an hour to extract DNA from samples of blood or tissue, amplify the DNA for analysis, and then separate out the DNA strands and process them. Its next generation machine, which should be on the market by 2014, can do all of this in about 25 minutes, thanks to computer chips that can run complex biochemical processes that used to require an entire lab.

This machine won’t just be fast, it’ll be small, too, able to fit in a suitcase (a big suitcase, but still) and weighing less than 80 pounds. You’ll be able to plug it into the cigarette lighter socket in your car to use it on the go, and it won’t take any training at all. Simply obtain a blood sample or cheek swab, stick it into the machine, and in less than half an hour you’ll know who it came from, thanks to a growing number of DNA databases that you should certainly not be concerned about, citizen. The cost for all this? Just $120,000, easily affordable for astronaut testing centers.

25 minutes isn’t as fast as the split-second DNA analyzers that you see in Gattaca, of course, but what’s significant here is that the technology has improved from an hour to 25 minutes in just a year. It’s not hard to imagine that analysis time might be down to about 10 minutes by 2015, and by 2020, it’ll be in the seconds range. With analysis price likely to see a corresponding decrease, it’s a sure thing that DNA analysis will be a lot more common: the only question is just what, exactly, it’ll be used for when it becomes a little too fast, easy, and cheap.

Via PC World

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Get your photo – in 3D!

Posted on November 23, 2012 by sksrinivas

A couple of month’s ago, Makerbot opened the first retail 3D printing store in the U.S., located in the hip confines of New York’s lower Manhattan area. Now the company has taken another step towards popularizing 3D printing by unveiling a 3D photo booth.

The MakerBot 3D Photo Booth allows anyone to create a three-dimensional model of their head by simply sitting in the booth and allowing ShapeShot to capture their visual data for $5 per shot. After the data is captured, the person can give the data to the MakerBot store attendant to have it printed into a physical item, or the data can be taken home and modified for those with the digital chops to manipulate the data.

Read more >>>

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Windows turns 27 today.

Posted on November 21, 2012 by sksrinivas

With all of the hoopla surrounding the release of Windows 8, you may have missed the fact that the Windows operating system itself has just turned 27 years old.

These days we tend to think of the operating system world as being split between two basic camps, Apple OS and Windows, but back in 1985 the choices were far more varied. Commodore’s AmigaOS was a hot new property along with DRI’s GEM, and they were soon joined by IBM’s long forgotten OS/2. Then of course there’s the various flavors of Linux, which have kept a devoted core group of fans happy for over 30 years.

By 1985 Microsoft had already been showing early versions of Windows to the public for a couple of years, but the company kept tweaking it until the initial public release of Windows 1.01 on November 20, 1985. Some of the changes were made to combat complaints that it took too many ideas from Apple’s Macintosh, but over the years their persistence paid off, and by the mid-1990s Windows OS machines dominated the home computer market.

If you follow the 27-year progression from Windows 1.01 to Windows 8, you’ll discover that it’s far from a straight line through eight different operating systems, and by the time you add in all of the specialized variants, there have actually been dozens of variations of the OS. Looking back at Windows 1.0 today is a bit like checking out the 1985 Radio Shack catalog. All those things that wowed us back then, the jagged graphics and tiled windows that could only sit next to each other just seem kind of quaint now. Still, it’s always fun to look back.

Amazingly, Microsoft continued to support Windows 1 until the end of 2001; what are the chances that they’ll still be supporting Windows 8 in 2026?

Check out the gallery to see some Windows 1 screenshots. Anyone remember Reversi?

Source: Dvice.com

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