Gone with the wind: innovative hydrogen/fuel cell electric vehicle infrastructure based on wind energy sources

The development of sustainable, clean, and efficient transportation systems is a critical factor for the improvement of overall air quality and the reduction of the nation's dependence on diminishing domestic resources and imported fuels. This article presents the development issues for an innovative fuel cell electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure and bidirectional grid connection, derived from renewable and clean energy sources, with a focus on wind energy. The effective use of wind power to drive water electrolysis plants to produce hydrogen for advanced fuel-cell EV is also illustrated in this paper.     

Molecular cloning, identification and characterization of 2-methyl-3-hydroxypyridine-5-carboxylic-acid-dioxygenase-coding gene from the nitrogen-fixing symbiotic bacterium Mesorhizobium loti

The gene (mlr6788) of a nitrogen-fixing symbiotic bacterium Mesorhizobium loti MAFF303099 has been identified as a gene coding for 2-methyl-3-hydroxypyridine-5-carboxylic acid dioxygenase (MHPCO), the seventh enzyme in degradation pathway I for pyridoxine, a free form of vitamin B(6). The gene was cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli cells co-transformed with chaperonin genes. The homogeneous recombinant enzyme showed similar enzymatic properties to the enzyme from Pseudomonas sp. MA-1. MHPCO was essential for the assimilation of pyridoxine in M. loti, but not for its growth in a nutrient-rich medium. From the infection experiment of a symbiotic plant Lotus japonicus with an M. loti mlr6788 gene disruptant, MHPCO was demonstrated to be dispensable for at least nodule formation on roots of seedlings in symbiosis.     

Integration of thermoelectrics and photovoltaics as auxiliary power sources in mobile computing applications

The inclusion of renewable technologies as auxiliary power sources in mobile computing platforms can lead to improved performance such as the extension of battery life. This paper presents sustainable power management characteristics and performance enhancement opportunities in mobile computing systems resulting from the integration of thermoelectric generators and photovoltaic units. Thermoelectric generators are employed for scavenging waste heat from processors or other significant components in the computer's chipset while the integration of photovoltaic units is demonstrated for generating power from environmental illumination. A scalable and flexible power architecture is also verified to effectively integrate these renewable energy sources. This paper confirms that battery life extension can be achieved through the appropriate integration of renewable sources such as thermoelectric and photovoltaic devices.     

A new flux-barrier-type reluctance motor with a slit rotor

A reluctance motor, with a rotor which has many slits, is proposed. The slits are used to generate magnetic flux in the d-axis direction. In practice, the rotor, which has a fewer number of slits, is desired to increase productivity. With a fewer number of slits, torque ripple becomes large. Therefore, torque ripple reduction methods are also proposed. In simulations and experiments, rated torque of the proposed motor is 1.7× as much as that of the conventional brushless DC motor with ferrite permanent magnets. The peak-to-peak (p-p) torque ripple is 1.5% p-p of the rated torque at the rated torque. The efficiency is 91% and the power factor is 61%, at the rated torque and 1200 min^-1. The characteristics of the field weakening and the constant power control are also shown. The breakpoint frequency of speed controls is about 200 Hz. Therefore, the proposed reluctance motor is feasible for general applications     

Achromatic interfero-coronagraph with two common-path interferometers in tandem

To attain deeper nulling for an extended incoherent star disk a scheme for an achromatic interfero-coronagraph, incorporating two common-path interferometers in tandem, is proposed. Analytical and numerical predictions of the performance, which are in reasonably good agreement, are presented. The predicted performance improvement, by using two interferometers in tandem, is demonstrated by a preliminary experiment. A star coronagraph based on the proposed technique has the possibility to reach a 10(-10) achromatic nulling contrast for an almost 10(-2) lambda/D effective source size.