Wave energy emulator and AC/DC rectifiers for direct drive wave energy converters

This paper describes a solid state electrical emulator devised for laboratory testing of power conditioning electronics for direct drive linear wave energy converters (DDLWEC). Two rectification strategies are considered; a uni-directional boost topology, and an H-bridge which may be controlled in either uni- or bidirectional modes.

Design and commissioning of a 30kw direct drive wave generator

The Trident Energy TE5 is a prototype wave energy converter operating on the principle of having direct-drive linear generators mounted above the water surface, coupled to floats moving under the rig deck. This paper describes aspects of the TE5 design, including its generators, power electronic systems and the conception of its marine structure.

Direct antimicrobial activities of PR-bombesin

PR-bombesin is a bombesin-like peptide derived from the skin of tile Chinese red belly toad, Bombina maxima. The 8-residue segment of N-terminal of RP-bombesin, comprising four prolines and three basic residues, is extensively different front other bombes

Geometrical properties and turbulent flame speed measurements in stationary premixed V-flames using direct numerical simulation

Three dimensional, fully compressible direct numerical simulations (DNS) of premixed turbulent flames are carried out in a V-flame configuration. The governing equations and the numerical implementation are described in detail, including modifications made to the Navier-Stokes Characteristic Boundary Conditions (NSCBC) to accommodate the steep transverse velocity and composition gradients generated when the flame crosses the boundary. Three cases, at turbulence intensities, u′/sL, of 1, 2, and 6 are considered. The influence of the flame holder on downstream flame properties is assessed through the distributions of the surface-conditioned displacement speed, curvature and tangential strain rates, and compared to data from similarly processed planar flames. The distributions are found to be indistinguishable from planar flames for distances greater than about 17δth downstream of the flame holder, where δth is the laminar flame thermal thickness. Favre mean fields are constructed, and the growth of the mean flame brush is found to be well described by simple Taylor type diffusion. The turbulent flame speed, sT is evaluated from an expression describing the propagation speed of an isosurface of the mean reaction progress variable c̃ in terms of the imbalance between the mean reactive, diffusive, and turbulent fluxes within the flame brush. The results are compared to the consumption speed, sC, calculated from the integral of the mean reaction rate, and to the predictions of a recently developed flame speed model (Kolla et al., Combust Sci Technol 181(3):518-535, 2009). The model predictions are improved in all cases by including the effects of mean molecular diffusion, and the overall agreement is good for the higher turbulence intensity cases once the tangential convective flux of c̃ is taken into account. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Development of an electric shrimp trawl 1. Reaction of shrimps to low volt direct current

Preliminary attempts were made to assess the effect of direct current on shrimps and to see whether the shrimp could be guided in large numbers into the fishing net by using a current of appropriate voltage without scattering them away as it happens at present. This communication is the first in the series of studies and primarily deals with laboratory equipment and experimental procedures followed.

Extraction, PCR amplification, and sequencing of mitochondrial DNA from scent mark and feces in the giant panda

To expand the feasibility of applying simple, efficient, non-invasive DNA preparation methods using samples that can be obtained from giant pandas living in the wild, we investigated the use of scent markings and fecal samples. Giant panda-specific oligonucleotide primers were used to amplify a portion of the mitochondrial DNA control region as well as a portion of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b gene and tRNA(Thr) gene region. A 196 base pair (bp) fragment in the control region and a 449 bp fragment in the cytochrome b gene and tRNA(Thr) gene were successfully amplified. Sequencing of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products demonstrated that the two fragments are giant panda sequences. Furthermore, under simulated field conditions we found that DNA can be extracted from fecal samples aged as long as 3 months. Our results suggest that the scent mark and fecal samples are simple, efficient, and easily prepared DNA sources. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Phylogeny of mitochondrial DNA macrohaplogroup N in India, based on complete sequencing: Implications for the peopling of South Asia

To resolve the phylogeny of the autochthonous mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups of India and determine the relationship between the Indian and western Eurasian mtDNA pools more precisely, a diverse subset of 75 macrohaplogroup N lineages was chosen fo

Deep RNA sequencing at single base-pair resolution reveals high complexity of the rice transcriptome

Understanding the dynamics of eukaryotic transcriptome is essential for studying the complexity of transcriptional regulation and its impact on phenotype. However, comprehensive studies of transcriptomes at single base resolution are rare, even for modern organisms, and lacking for rice. Here, we present the first transcriptome atlas for eight organs of cultivated rice. Using high-throughput paired-end RNA-seq, we unambiguously detected transcripts expressing at an extremely low level, as well as a substantial number of novel transcripts, exons, and untranslated regions. An analysis of alternative splicing in the rice transcriptome revealed that alternative cis-splicing occurred in similar to 33% of all rice genes. This is far more than previously reported. In addition, we also identified 234 putative chimeric transcripts that seem to be produced by trans-splicing, indicating that transcript fusion events are more common than expected. In-depth analysis revealed a multitude of fusion transcripts that might be by-products of alternative splicing. Validation and chimeric transcript structural analysis provided evidence that some of these transcripts are likely to be functional in the cell. Taken together, our data provide extensive evidence that transcriptional regulation in rice is vastly more complex than previously believed.

Sequencing, annotation and comparative analysis of nine BACs of giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

A 10-fold BAC library for giant panda was constructed and nine BACs were selected to generate finish sequences. These BACs could be used as a validation resource for the de novo assembly accuracy of the whole genome shotgun sequencing reads of giant panda newly generated by the Illumina GA sequencing technology. Complete sanger sequencing, assembly, annotation and comparative analysis were carried out on the selected BACs of a joint length 878 kb. Homologue search and de novo prediction methods were used to annotate genes and repeats. Twelve protein coding genes were predicted, seven of which could be functionally annotated. The seven genes have an average gene size of about 41 kb, an average coding size of about 1.2 kb and an average exon number of 6 per gene. Besides, seven tRNA genes were found. About 27 percent of the BAC sequence is composed of repeats. A phylogenetic tree was constructed using neighbor-join algorithm across five species, including giant panda, human, dog, cat and mouse, which reconfirms dog as the most related species to giant panda. Our results provide detailed sequence and structure information for new genes and repeats of giant panda, which will be helpful for further studies on the giant panda.

High penetrance of sequencing errors and interpretative shortcomings in mtDNA sequence analysis of LHON patients

For identifying mutation(s) that are potentially pathogenic it is essential to determine the entire mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences from patients suffering from a particular mitochondrial disease, such as Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). Howe