Thursday, October 31, 2013

Chickens to benefit from biofuels bonanza

Chickens to benefit from biofuels bonanza


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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

31-Oct-2013



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Contact: Press Office
pressoffice@epsrc.ac.uk
01-793-444-404
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council





Chickens could be the unexpected beneficiaries of the growing biofuels industry, feeding on proteins retrieved from the fermenters used to brew bioethanol, thanks to research supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).


It has long been known that the yeasty broth left over after bioethanol production is nutritious, but it has taken a collaboration between Nottingham Trent University and AB Agri, the agricultural division of Associated British Foods, to prove that Yeast Protein Concentrate (YPC) can be separated from the fibrous cereal matter.


The researchers have also shown that YPC may be a cost-competitive substitute for imported soya-based and similar high-value protein feeds currently used in the diets of chickens bred for meat production.


The project was born out of the vision of biofuels pioneer Dr Pete Williams of AB Agri, who was convinced valuable material was being overlooked when cereals were fermented to make bioethanol.


With Dr Emily Burton of Nottingham Trent University, he was able to secure funding from the EPSRC for a CASE* studentship that allowed them to develop and analyse the process.


To establish the nutritional value of the concentrate, EPSRC CASE student Dawn Scholey examined the composition of the newly isolated, patented YPC in a series of experiments, which showed that it can be readily digested by chickens. A paper outlining this research is published in this month's issue of the journal 'Food and Energy Security'**.


Project supervisor, Dr Burton says the work is only just beginning: "Bioethanol is already a 60-billion-litre per year global market but this project shows the fuel itself is only half the story immense value lies within other co-product streams too. As well as the proteins, the yeast content provides important vitamins and other micronutrients."


Produced by distilling and fermenting wheat and other agricultural feedstocks, bioethanol has particular potential for use as a petrol substitute. Currently, the dried distiller's grains with solubles (DDGS) generated as a co-product are sold to the cattle-feed market but this is not big enough to absorb all material that would be generated if bioethanol production ramps up significantly in future.


Dr Burton believes the project helps address an issue often raised in connection with cereal-based biofuels: "One concern with bioethanol is the perception it will compete with food crops for limited farmland. Our new work shows how the two can live side by side."


The new, patented process separates DDGS into three fractions fibre, a watery syrup and YPC, allowing global production of almost 3 million tonnes of supplementary high-quality protein per annum alongside current levels of bioethanol produced. A project at a US bioethanol facility is now up and running, demonstrating the performance of the process at factory scale.


Every year, 800 million chickens are reared for meat production in the UK and 48 billion worldwide. As well as helping to feed these birds, YPC could partially replace the fish meal used on commercial fish farms.


Dr Pete Williams of AB Agri, the industrial sponsor of the work, says: "We couldn't have got this development started without the EPSRC CASE studentship that allowed us to establish the proof of concept, and to confirm the value-creation potential of our innovative separation process. By helping us to move to the next key stage of development, it has brought closer the prospect of full-scale industrial use that could deliver major benefits to the emerging 'green' fuel sector."

###

Notes for Editors


*CASE (Cooperation Awards in Science and Engineering) funding is provided by EPSRC for PhD students working with businesses on research projects of industrial relevance.


**The 'Food & Energy Security' paper can be viewed at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fes3.30/abstract


The UK Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation stipulates that renewable fuels must account for an increasing proportion of fuel supplied on the UK's petrol station forecourts.


For more information on AB Agri: http://www.abagri.com


The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is the UK's main agency for funding research in engineering and the physical sciences. EPSRC invests around 800 million a year in research and postgraduate training, to help the nation handle the next generation of technological change. The areas covered range from information technology to structural engineering, and mathematics to materials science. This research forms the basis for future economic development in the UK and improvements for everyone's health, lifestyle and culture. EPSRC works alongside other Research Councils with responsibility for other areas of research. The Research Councils work collectively on issues of common concern via Research Councils UK. http://www.epsrc.ac.uk


For more information, contact:


Dr Emily Burton
Nottingham Trent University
Tel: 0115 848 5346
E-mail: emily.burton@ntu.ac.uk


Dr Pete Williams
AB Agri Peterborough
Tel: 01733 422744
or 07912 669200
E-mail: Peter.Williams@ABAgri.com


Images are available from the EPSRC Press Office, Tel: 01793 444404 or E-mail: pressoffice@epsrc.ac.uk




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Chickens to benefit from biofuels bonanza


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

31-Oct-2013



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]


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Contact: Press Office
pressoffice@epsrc.ac.uk
01-793-444-404
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council





Chickens could be the unexpected beneficiaries of the growing biofuels industry, feeding on proteins retrieved from the fermenters used to brew bioethanol, thanks to research supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).


It has long been known that the yeasty broth left over after bioethanol production is nutritious, but it has taken a collaboration between Nottingham Trent University and AB Agri, the agricultural division of Associated British Foods, to prove that Yeast Protein Concentrate (YPC) can be separated from the fibrous cereal matter.


The researchers have also shown that YPC may be a cost-competitive substitute for imported soya-based and similar high-value protein feeds currently used in the diets of chickens bred for meat production.


The project was born out of the vision of biofuels pioneer Dr Pete Williams of AB Agri, who was convinced valuable material was being overlooked when cereals were fermented to make bioethanol.


With Dr Emily Burton of Nottingham Trent University, he was able to secure funding from the EPSRC for a CASE* studentship that allowed them to develop and analyse the process.


To establish the nutritional value of the concentrate, EPSRC CASE student Dawn Scholey examined the composition of the newly isolated, patented YPC in a series of experiments, which showed that it can be readily digested by chickens. A paper outlining this research is published in this month's issue of the journal 'Food and Energy Security'**.


Project supervisor, Dr Burton says the work is only just beginning: "Bioethanol is already a 60-billion-litre per year global market but this project shows the fuel itself is only half the story immense value lies within other co-product streams too. As well as the proteins, the yeast content provides important vitamins and other micronutrients."


Produced by distilling and fermenting wheat and other agricultural feedstocks, bioethanol has particular potential for use as a petrol substitute. Currently, the dried distiller's grains with solubles (DDGS) generated as a co-product are sold to the cattle-feed market but this is not big enough to absorb all material that would be generated if bioethanol production ramps up significantly in future.


Dr Burton believes the project helps address an issue often raised in connection with cereal-based biofuels: "One concern with bioethanol is the perception it will compete with food crops for limited farmland. Our new work shows how the two can live side by side."


The new, patented process separates DDGS into three fractions fibre, a watery syrup and YPC, allowing global production of almost 3 million tonnes of supplementary high-quality protein per annum alongside current levels of bioethanol produced. A project at a US bioethanol facility is now up and running, demonstrating the performance of the process at factory scale.


Every year, 800 million chickens are reared for meat production in the UK and 48 billion worldwide. As well as helping to feed these birds, YPC could partially replace the fish meal used on commercial fish farms.


Dr Pete Williams of AB Agri, the industrial sponsor of the work, says: "We couldn't have got this development started without the EPSRC CASE studentship that allowed us to establish the proof of concept, and to confirm the value-creation potential of our innovative separation process. By helping us to move to the next key stage of development, it has brought closer the prospect of full-scale industrial use that could deliver major benefits to the emerging 'green' fuel sector."

###

Notes for Editors


*CASE (Cooperation Awards in Science and Engineering) funding is provided by EPSRC for PhD students working with businesses on research projects of industrial relevance.


**The 'Food & Energy Security' paper can be viewed at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fes3.30/abstract


The UK Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation stipulates that renewable fuels must account for an increasing proportion of fuel supplied on the UK's petrol station forecourts.


For more information on AB Agri: http://www.abagri.com


The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is the UK's main agency for funding research in engineering and the physical sciences. EPSRC invests around 800 million a year in research and postgraduate training, to help the nation handle the next generation of technological change. The areas covered range from information technology to structural engineering, and mathematics to materials science. This research forms the basis for future economic development in the UK and improvements for everyone's health, lifestyle and culture. EPSRC works alongside other Research Councils with responsibility for other areas of research. The Research Councils work collectively on issues of common concern via Research Councils UK. http://www.epsrc.ac.uk


For more information, contact:


Dr Emily Burton
Nottingham Trent University
Tel: 0115 848 5346
E-mail: emily.burton@ntu.ac.uk


Dr Pete Williams
AB Agri Peterborough
Tel: 01733 422744
or 07912 669200
E-mail: Peter.Williams@ABAgri.com


Images are available from the EPSRC Press Office, Tel: 01793 444404 or E-mail: pressoffice@epsrc.ac.uk




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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/eaps-ctb103113.php
Category: powerball   Nothing Was The Same Leak   Jane Addams   Vma Miley Cyrus   Allegiant Air  

TV cameras go live in UK's Court of Appeal


LONDON (AP) — Lights, camera, appeal!

Television cameras were allowed for the first time in one of Britain's highest courts Thursday after a partial lifting of a nearly 90-year ban on filming in courts. The landmark shift comes after years of campaigning from broadcasters such as the BBC, Sky News and ITN.

James Harding, the BBC's director of news, said broadcasting proceedings at the Court of Appeal will help viewers understand how the justice system works. In the first broadcast case, a man lost his appeal of a 7-year sentence for counterfeiting.

Lawyers' arguments, judges' comments and sentencing remarks may be filmed, but victims, witnesses and defendants may not.

Some cases will be broadcast with a 70-second delay.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tv-cameras-live-uks-court-appeal-123334036.html
Category: cher   Henry Bromell   Jordan Linn Graham   Wentworth Miller   pharrell  

Dell laptop buyers make a stink over cat smell


NEW YORK (AP) — A noxious feline odor has some Dell customers caterwauling.

People who own Dell Latitude 6430u laptops are complaining that their pricey new computers are emitting a smell similar to cat urine. Some of them said on the company's online customer forums that the odor seems to be coming from the keyboard or palm rest.

The Round Rock, Texas, company originally advised buyers through its forums to try cleaning their keyboards with a soft cloth or compressed air, but the smell persisted.

"The machine is great, but it smells as if it was assembled near a tomcat's litter box," wrote a customer using the handle "three west" on a Dell forum back in June. "It is truly awful!"

On Wednesday, another customer writing under the handle "passflips" said he felt terrible for repeatedly scolding his cat Jerry, because he thought the elderly cat kept spraying the computer. The poster also said he wasted money on veterinarian bills in an attempt to determine whether his cat had a medical problem.

Dell said Thursday that its investigation revealed strange scent is related to a manufacturing process, which the company has since fixed. But if your portable PC isn't purrfect, Dell recommends contacting the company's technical support team to have your laptop's palm rest assembly replaced.

Company spokesman David Frink said the odor isn't related to a "biological contamination" and doesn't present a health hazard. He added that newly assembled laptops that are currently in stores aren't affected.

The laptops in question are ultrabooks designed for business use. The base model starts at $900 on Dell's website, but Dell charges close to $1,300 for higher-end versions that include Windows 8 and Intel Core i5 processors.

While laptop users may find the smell of cat urine offensive, "cat's pee" is a term sometimes used by wine lovers to describe a wine's aroma.

And while the smell coming from the Dell computers is apparently unintentional, more than one group of engineers is working on "Smell-o-Vision" TV to engage viewers' olfactory senses. In addition, a host of recent smartphone add-ons make scents, too, including the Scentee, a Japanese smartphone attachment that plugs into a phone's earphone jack and dispenses scented vapors through dedicated cartridges.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dell-laptop-buyers-stink-over-cat-smell-152540644--finance.html
Category: clemson football   Rihanna Pour It Up Video   Why Did The Government Shut Down   nbc   Pga Leaderboard  

Bats confirmed as SARS origin

Bats confirmed as SARS origin


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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

30-Oct-2013



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Contact: Sally Corinaldi
sally.corinaldi@csiro.au
61-352-275-203
CSIRO Australia





A team of international scientists has isolated a very close relative of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) from horseshoe bats in China, confirming them as the origin of the virus responsible for the 2002-3 pandemic.

The SARS-CoV pandemic killed 774 people of the 8094 people infected, a case fatality ratio of almost 10 per cent. With cases diagnosed across the world, the pandemic had an impact on international travel and trade.


The research team, led by Professor Shi Zhengli from Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and including CSIRO and Duke-NUS scientist Professor Linfa Wang, have just had their breakthrough results published in Nature.

While researchers globally have previously used genetic sequencing to demonstrate that bats are the natural reservoirs of SARS-like CoVs, this is the first time that live virus has been successfully isolated from bats to definitively confirm them as the origin of the virus.


The team successfully isolated a SARS-like CoV, named SL-CoV WIV1, directly from faecal samples of Chinese Horseshoe bats using the world renowned bat virus isolation methodology developed by scientists at CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong.


The results will help governments design more effective prevention strategies for SARS and similar epidemics.


Horseshoe bats are found around the world, including Australia and play an important ecological role. Their role in SARS-CoV transmission highlights the importance of protecting the bat's natural environment so they are not forced into highly populated urban areas in search of food.


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Bats confirmed as SARS origin


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

30-Oct-2013



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]


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Contact: Sally Corinaldi
sally.corinaldi@csiro.au
61-352-275-203
CSIRO Australia





A team of international scientists has isolated a very close relative of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) from horseshoe bats in China, confirming them as the origin of the virus responsible for the 2002-3 pandemic.

The SARS-CoV pandemic killed 774 people of the 8094 people infected, a case fatality ratio of almost 10 per cent. With cases diagnosed across the world, the pandemic had an impact on international travel and trade.


The research team, led by Professor Shi Zhengli from Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and including CSIRO and Duke-NUS scientist Professor Linfa Wang, have just had their breakthrough results published in Nature.

While researchers globally have previously used genetic sequencing to demonstrate that bats are the natural reservoirs of SARS-like CoVs, this is the first time that live virus has been successfully isolated from bats to definitively confirm them as the origin of the virus.


The team successfully isolated a SARS-like CoV, named SL-CoV WIV1, directly from faecal samples of Chinese Horseshoe bats using the world renowned bat virus isolation methodology developed by scientists at CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong.


The results will help governments design more effective prevention strategies for SARS and similar epidemics.


Horseshoe bats are found around the world, including Australia and play an important ecological role. Their role in SARS-CoV transmission highlights the importance of protecting the bat's natural environment so they are not forced into highly populated urban areas in search of food.


###


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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.




Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/ca-bca103013.php
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Box Office: "Bad Grandpa" Bumps "Gravity" from Top

After three weeks of reigning at the box office, "Gravity" was finally replaced in the top spot by "Bad Grandpa" for the weekend of October 25-27, 2013.


The comedy, brought to the masses by MTV'S Jackass, raked in $12.5 million on Friday and finished its first weekend in theaters with an impressive $33 million.


Landing in second spot was the sci-fi action drama "Gravity." The George Clooney and Sandra Bullock film nabbed $6.1 million on Friday, and garnered a three day total of $20 million.


Rounding out the top five in earmarked earnings are the bio-drama "Captain Phillips" ($11.7 million) in third, the new crime-thriller "The Counselor" ($7.5 million) in fourth, and Sony Animation's "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2" ($6 million) still hanging on in fifth.


Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/jackass-presents-bad-grandpa/box-office-bad-grandpa-bumps-gravity-top-950747
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Lenovo claims battery life crown with new Yoga tablets


Lenovo is claiming that its new Yoga tablets will offer 18 hours of battery life when browsing the web, which would be the longest when compared to other tablets.


The company's new Yoga tablets, which will come in 8-inch and 10.1-inch versions, will provide 12 to 14 hours when watching high-definition video, said Stephen Miller, Lenovo ambassador. The tablets were announced at a launch event in New York.


[ Also on InfoWorld: Tablets shipments to mushroom by 53 percent in 2013. | Understand how to both manage and benefit from the consumerization of IT with InfoWorld's "Consumerization Digital Spotlight" PDF special report. | For a quick, smart take on the news you'll be talking about, check out InfoWorld TechBrief -- subscribe today. ]


The battery life can be even longer if the tablets are set to low screen brightness, Miller said.


If Lenovo's claims of battery life hold up, the Yoga tablets will beat competition handily. Tablets today are at best able to squeeze up to 11 hours of battery life. The Yoga tablets have high-capacity cylindrical batteries similar to ones used in laptops, which helps prolong battery life.


The 8-inch tablet, which is priced at $249, weighs 400 grams. The 10.1-inch tablet is at $299 and weighs 603 grams. The tablets will run Android 4.2 and be available in the U.S. on Wednesday. The company did not comment on worldwide availability.


The battery is housed in the tablet's circular base, which makes it easier to grip the device. A kick-stand allows the tablet to sit firmly on the table.


With a circular base, the Yoga tablets bears a resemblance to Notion Ink's now-defunct Adam tablet, which was one of the first Android tablets to ship when it became available in late 2010.


The Yoga tablets run on MediaTek quad-core processors with a clock speed of 1.2GHz. Both of the tablets display images at a resolution of 1,280 x 800 pixels.


Other features include a 1.6-megapixel front camera, a 5-megapixel back camera, up to 32GB of internal storage, and micro-SD card slot for expandable storage.


Lenovo has introduced a range of tablets, PCs, and hybrids in the last few years. The new products are important as buyers move away from PCs to mobile products.


"We shipped more smartphones and tablets than PCs," during the third quarter, Miller said.


Agam Shah covers PCs, tablets, servers, chips and semiconductors for IDG News Service. Follow Agam on Twitter at @agamsh. Agam's e-mail address is agam_shah@idg.com.


Source: http://images.infoworld.com/d/mobile-technology/lenovo-claims-battery-life-crown-new-yoga-tablets-229820?source=rss_mobile_technology
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Minka Kelly Attends FOX's "Almost Human-(hattan)" Experience

Stepping out for a promotional event on Wednesday (October 30), "Almost Human's" Minka Kelly attended the Almost Human-(hattan) Experience in Herald Square New York City.


Looking exquisite in the chilly Big Apple air, the 33-year-old wore a trench coat over a lovely teal dress, sporting a pair of nude heels.


According to the SciFi & Fantasy Review, "FOX will recreate 2048 in the middle of Manhattan with the ALMOST HUMAN-(hattan) Experience."


The website states that "This fun and futuristic experience will feature a build out showcasing some of the coolest elements from the series including: Kennex’s police car, two spider police motorcycles, Rudy’s lab (complete with droids hanging from meat hooks) and “the recollectionist chair,” as well as a street team of MX-34 android policemen."


Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/minka-kelly/minka-kelly-attends-foxs-almost-human-hattan-experience-952476
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