Future cities modeled on nature | Eco-Business.com

A beautiful demonstrator of biomimicry, this self-sufficient Lilypad city, designed by architect Vincent Callebaut, floats on water and can house 50,000 people. It could be the answer for climate change refugees who lose their countries to rising sea water levels. Image: vincent.callebaut.org

United Nations figures predict that by 2050, more than 70 per cent of the world?s population will live in cities ? up from about 50 per cent today. With the expansion of cities, challenges to feed, clothe and house a growing population even while resources are declining will preoccupy communities worldwide. Given the constraints, what will the cities of tomorrow look like?

Eco-Business speaks to Nigel Grier, design charrette facilitator of environment consultancy The Green Asia Group on the ?biomimetic city of the future? ? a topic he spoke on at the International Green Building Conference held at Marina Bay Sands this week.

Mr Grier is an experienced Landscape Ecologist with a focus on Restoration Ecology & Biomimicry. He joined The GreenAsia Group last year from Zingspace, an ecological design and project management practice based in Australia, where he led many multidisciplinary design teams in the masterplanning for landscape, water and national resource projects.

/>/>/>/> />

Nigel Grier, design charrette facilitator of environment consultancy The GreenAsia Group.

EB: Can you explain what is this ?biomimetic city of the future? for the layman?

NG: The biomimetic city of the future is the preferred future for us ? a city modeled on nature. The word ?biomimetic? comes from two words ? ?bios? meaning life and ?mimesis? meaning to imitate and therefore, to imitate life or biology.

There is this great quote from Janine Benyus from her book Biomimicry: Innovation inspired by nature, which says: ?Nature runs on sunlight, utilizes only the energy it needs, fits form to function, recycles everything, rewards cooperation, banks on diversity, demands local expertise, curbs excess from within, taps the power of limits?.? This aptly sums up how a biomimetic city will need to be planned, designed and operated.

Now imagine if cities were like rainforests; plenty of shade, diverse, rich in variety while offering abundant fresh air and daylight, with access to clean water, surrounded by living things ? an integrated natural system in balance.

EB: What will it take for cities to get there, and what do you think are the biggest challenges and obstacles?

NG: It will take a total rethink of how we view cities and how they are planned. Future cities will need to be planned around energy and resource hubs, not infrastructure like highways. If we are to keep increasing our global population by a billion people every 15 years, cities will need to become fewer but denser ? think megacities of populations a minimum 1 million per square kilometer. (Editor?s note: Singapore?s current density is 7,500 people per sq km.)

To achieve this, we will need to go up, vertical cities of 200 storeys or more. Think of cities traveling vertically, not dissimilar to ants on rainforest trees. Buildings will need to link like rainforest canopies or coral reef networks. The Pinnacle@Duxton is a great possible insight into this future ? it features seven 50-storey buildings linked by sky bridges on the 26th & 50th floors with lots of outdoor green spaces.

The biggest challenge is human nature. The majority of people today are making decisions on a minute-by-minute basis, and not looking at the long-term implications of those decisions.

From a design industry perspective, the challenge will be learning to design from scratch again and putting a stop to the ?cut and paste? practice inherent in the industry now. This method, unfortunately, leads to the same problem being replicated in the next building or project. I think the human psyche around change is also a major obstacle. At the community level, we all say we want change and environmental protection, but as an individual, we don?t want to pay for it.

EB: Concepts such as integrative design, systems thinking and biomimicry are starting to emerge, what are your thoughts on them?

NG: These concepts are the innovation wave or paradigm shift required of our design industry to get us to the next phase of our evolution. Biomimicry is about relooking at nature no longer as resource to exploit, but a resource to learn from.

EB: Although such concepts are growing in popularity, they remain at the fringe and are not mainstream yet ? why do you think this is so?

NG: There are many vested interests in maintaining the status quo for short-term gain. We don?t fix it because we don?t consider it broken. Most people still don?t realise there is a problem or an alternative method.

Transformation is also achieved through experience ? so it will be a slow process in the short-term. Many professionals are using the industry ?rule of thumb? for their designs and not considering where they came from or when they were developed.

For example, many design processes in the mechanical and electrical engineering industry were developed when oil was USD$7 a barrel. Now it?s close to USD$100, but have those designs been reviewed in light of the new cost?

EB: This year?s theme is ?Green community, green action? ? how do you think the building industry can contribute to the growing movement here in Singapore and more broadly, in Asia?

NG: This is a fantastic theme. I love it! Action is the only thing that has ever made a difference. The building industry here is doing a great job and in many ways leading the world. At the same time, it should be looking at its projects more systemically and integrating the services better. For example, across the board there is three times more cooling capacity installed in Singapore buildings than what is required.

Today, you can ?design out? more than 50 per cent of the energy, water and resource consumption out of a building project if you start early enough and apply biomimicry and the integrative design process. This can be done for less investment ? green buildings do not need to cost more. In fact, a true green building should cost less.

Eco-Business.com?s coverage of the International Green Building Conference 2012 is brought to you by City Developments Limited.

For other news from the Singapore Green Building Week, including the International Green Building Conference 2012 and Bex Asia 2012, click here.

Source: http://www.eco-business.com/features/future-cities-modeled-on-nature/

brandon phillips summerfest summerfest fidel castro rick santorum ozzie guillen castro comments phish

Lenovo knocks HP off top of global PC market: Gartner

SAN FRANCISCO/HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's Lenovo Group Ltd edged out Silicon Valley icon Hewlett-Packard Co to become the world's No. 1 PC maker in the third quarter, according to data released by research house Gartner on Wednesday.

A rival to Gartner, IDC, still ranks HP in the lead - but by less than half a percentage point - in terms of PC shipments worldwide. Both studies reinforce HP's struggles against rivals as new chief executive Meg Whitman tries to overhaul the stalled 73-year-old company.

Worldwide shipments of personal computers fell over 8 percent last quarter, according to both research firms, which blamed myriad factors including retailers and vendors ridding themselves of older inventory ahead of the launch of Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system, the growing popularity of mobile gadgets like tablets, and a slowing economy.

PC demand growth has crumbled over the past year as more consumers flock to ultra-portable and increasingly powerful tablets and smartphones for basic computing.

Both sets of data show that Lenovo, Taiwan's Acer and other Asian PC makers are taking share away from U.S. competitors HP and Dell, which held on to the No. 3 spot in the quarter.

Lenovo, which has a market value of $8.2 billion, said it believed there was room for continued growth in the sector.

"We are establishing even deeper roots in each major market around the world. In addition to localized sales and distribution teams in major markets, we are establishing an even stronger manufacturing footprint," Lenovo Chairman and CEO Yuanqing Yang said in a statement.

This year the company has bought Brazilian electronics maker CCE, valued at a base price of 300 million reais ($148 million), and U.S. cloud computing firm Stoneware.

CHINA'S TECH RISE

Lenovo's rise highlights the advance of China's technology firms on the world stage in recent years as a result of aggressive pricing, overseas acquisitions, and taking advantage of a fast-growing home market.

The Chinese company, which vaulted into the PC market by buying IBM's personal computer division in 2005, took the top spot for the first time by growing its market share to 15.7 percent, shipping an estimated 13.77 million units during the quarter, up nearly 10 percent from a year ago, Gartner said.

HP's global PC share stood at 15.5 percent after shipping 13.55 million units, down 16.4 percent from a year ago, Gartner said, adding that this was the first time HP has not been the top-ranked PC vendor position since 2006.

IDC had HP at the No. 1 spot with a 15.9 percent market share, marginally ahead of Lenovo's 15.7 percent share.

HP responded to Gartner's study by saying IDC's was more expansive.

"While there are a variety of PC share reports in the market, some don't measure the market in its entirety," HP said in a statement. "The IDC analysis includes the very important workstation segment, and therefore is more comprehensive."

HP shares closed 1.32 percent lower at $14.18 on Wednesday, after touching $14.02, its lowest level since October 2002.

Lenovo's shares rose nearly 2 percent on Thursday, outpacing a 0.4 rise in the benchmark Hong Kong index.

Since the start of 2012, Lenovo's shares have risen more than 9 percent, in contrast to a roughly 40 percent drop in HP's stock, a 35 percent fall in Dell and Acer's 21 percent slide.

Analysts say PC makers are suffering from still-sluggish growth in consumer and corporate spending across the globe, even in once-reliably hot markets like China, Lenovo's home turf. The industry's future is uncertain, partly because of a proliferation of computing devices from tablets of all sizes to smartphones.

"PCs are going through a severe slump," said Jay Chou, senior research analyst at IDC's Worldwide PC Tracker.

"A weak global economy as well as questions about PC market saturation and delayed replacement cycles are certainly a factor, but the hard question of what is the 'it' product for PCs remain unanswered."

(Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Daniel Magnowski)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lenovo-knocks-hp-off-top-global-pc-market-025019796--finance.html

wmt human nature arkansas football howard johnson blackhawks levon helm firelight

Indicted Megaupload founder plans site reboot

FILE - In this Feb. 22, 2012 file photo, Kim Dotcom, the founder of the file-sharing website Megaupload, comments after he was granted bail and released in Auckland, New Zealand. In a move bound to provoke U.S. prosecutors and entertainment executives, indicted Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom is planning to offer a new online music service and a replacement of his shuttered website by year?s end. (AP Photo/New Zealand Herald, Brett Phibbs, File) NEW ZEALAND OUT, AUSTRALIA OUT

FILE - In this Feb. 22, 2012 file photo, Kim Dotcom, the founder of the file-sharing website Megaupload, comments after he was granted bail and released in Auckland, New Zealand. In a move bound to provoke U.S. prosecutors and entertainment executives, indicted Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom is planning to offer a new online music service and a replacement of his shuttered website by year?s end. (AP Photo/New Zealand Herald, Brett Phibbs, File) NEW ZEALAND OUT, AUSTRALIA OUT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) ? In a move bound to provoke U.S. prosecutors and entertainment executives, indicted Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom is planning to launch a replacement of his shuttered website and a new online music service by year's end.

The file-sharing site that Dotcom started in 2005 was one of the most popular online sites before U.S. prosecutors shut it down and filed racketeering charges against Dotcom and six other Megaupload principals in January.

U.S. authorities are now trying to extradite Dotcom from New Zealand, where he's a resident, claiming he facilitated massive copyright piracy through his site. Prosecutors say Dotcom pocketed tens of millions of dollars while movie makers and songwriters lost some $500 million in copyright revenue.

Dotcom says he can't be held responsible for users who acted illegally and that Megaupload complied with copyrights by removing links to pirated material when asked. Some legal experts say proving Dotcom's conduct amounted to criminal conspiracy will be difficult, and he has gained some high-profile support, including from Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

The flamboyant Dotcom confirmed in a brief telephone interview this week that he's almost completed work on "new Mega" and "Megabox" but said he doesn't want to divulge details ahead of a major press launch. However, statements he's made on Twitter and a promotional video paint a picture of what he's planning.

In recent tweets, Dotcom says his new version of Megaupload is nearly complete. "Quick update on the new Mega: Code 90% done. Servers on the way. Lawyers, Partners & Investors ready. Be patient. It's coming," he wrote. He said the new version will feature a one-click encryption option for data transfers and that the service would be hosted on servers outside the U.S.

Asked by one Twitter user if he was nervous that "what happened to Megaupload could happen to New Mega?" Dotcom replied: "That will be IMPOSSIBLE. Trust me!"

Dotcom says his planned music service Megabox will enable users to download music for free in exchange for accepting some advertisements. He says 90 percent of the revenue will go to the artists and that the service will be a legitimate way of "unchaining artists and fans" to do business with each other with a minimal need for middlemen.

A promotional video posted by Dotcom on YouTube indicates Megabox will take advantage of social media tools to show trends and will allow users to upload their own music.

U.S. prosecutors won't comment on the case while it's being litigated. The Motion Picture Association of America, which filed complaints about alleged copyright infringement by Megaupload, this week also declined to comment on Dotcom's plans.

Asked on the phone if U.S. prosecutors might see his plans as a poke in the eye, Dotcom said "probably."

Dotcom's case has fascinated people in New Zealand at the same time as it has moved like a wrecking ball through the judicial system here, exposing embarrassing mistakes made by police, politicians, judges and spies. Prime Minister John Key even publicly apologized to "Mr. Dotcom" last month after acknowledging spies had carried out unlawful surveillance on him before his January arrest.

A judge here also found that police executed an unlawful search warrant when they seized digital material from Dotcom, evidence which was later passed on to the F.B.I. A lawmaker was forced to explain why he listed a campaign donation from Dotcom as "anonymous" (he maintains he didn't know who the donor was) while another judge was forced to step down from the case after making an anti-U.S. remark.

The missteps likely won't have much impact on the criminal case unless Dotcom's defense lawyers can prove that U.S. authorities were complicit in gaining evidence by unlawful means. But Dotcom's latest plans could raise further questions of New Zealand's judiciary, which decided to allow Dotcom access to the Internet and millions of dollars of his frozen funds while on bail.

Jennifer Granick, the director of civil liberties at the Stanford University law school's Center for Internet and Society, said Dotcom's case marks the first time the U.S. has attempted to hold somebody criminally liable for copyright infringement committed by others. She said prosecutors are pushing at the boundaries of the law.

"It makes the substantive underpinnings of the case highly questionable, legally," Granick said. "It's a novel case."

Dotcom, 38, who changed his name from Kim Schmitz, has enjoyed a rollercoaster ride as a hacker turned playboy turned family man. He has faced legal trouble before, picking up convictions in Germany in 1998 for computer fraud and in 2002 for insider trading. In his latest legal battle, he has presented himself as an Internet freedom fighter and has gained many devoted fans on Twitter with whom he interacts regularly.

His extradition hearing is scheduled for March.

___

Follow Nick Perry on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nickgbperry

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-10-11-New%20Zealand-Kim%20Dotcom/id-a610370ada6b43fdb1bc6632156c5759

juan williams victor martinez alcatraz cruise ship martin luther king jr. zappos john elway

Hyped Genetically Modified Maize Study Faces Growing Scrutiny

Image: nysm.nysed.gov/

• 

  Showcasing more than fifty of the most provocative, original, and significant online essays from 2011, The Best Science Writing Online 2012 will change the way...

  Read More??

From Nature magazine

The storm of scientific criticism over claims that a genetically modified (GM) maize causes severe disease in rats shows no signs of abating.

Gilles-Eric S?ralini, a molecular biologist at the University of Caen, France, is under intense pressure to report the full data behind his team?s finding that rats fed for two years with Monsanto?s glyphosate-resistant NK603 maize (corn) developed many more tumours and died earlier than controls (see Nature 489, 484; 2012). The study, run in collaboration with the Paris-based Committee for Research and Independent Information on Genetic Engineering (CRIIGEN), also found that rats developed tumours when their drinking water was spiked with glyphosate, the herbicide that is used with the GM maize. The findings have had a huge public impact in Europe, empowering those opposed more broadly to GM foods, and leading some politicians to call for tighter regulations or outright bans of the maize.

Last week, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in Parma, Italy, and Germany?s Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) in Berlin both issued initial assessments slamming the paper, bluntly asserting that its conclusions are not supported by the data presented. ?The design, reporting and analysis of the study, as outlined in the paper, are inadequate,? says the EFSA in a press release, adding that the paper is ?of insufficient scientific quality to be considered as valid for risk assessment?.

The biggest criticism from both reviews is that S?ralini and his team used only ten rats of each sex in their treatment groups. That is a similar number of rats per group to that used in most previous toxicity tests of GM foods, including Missouri-based Monsanto?s own tests of NK603 maize. Such regulatory tests monitor rats for 90 days, and guidelines from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) state that ten rats of each sex per group over that time span is sufficient because the rats are relatively young. But S?ralini?s study was over two years ? almost a rat?s lifespan ? and for tests of this duration, the OECD recommends at least 20 rats of each sex per group for chemical-toxicity studies, and at least 50 for carcinogenicity studies.

Moreover, the study used Sprague-Dawley rats, which both reviews note are prone to developing spontaneous tumours. Data provided to Nature by Harlan Laboratories, which supplied the rats in the study, show that only one-third of males, and less than one-half of females, live to 104 weeks. By comparison, its Han Wistar rats have greater than 70% survival at 104 weeks, and fewer tumours. OECD guidelines state that for two-year experiments, rats should have a survival rate of at least 50% at 104 weeks. If they do not, each treatment group should include even more animals ? 65 or more of each sex.

?There is a high probability that the findings in relation to the tumour incidence are due to chance, given the low number of animals and the spontaneous occurrence of tumours in Sprague-Dawley rats,? concludes the EFSA report. In response to the EFSA?s assessment, the European Federation of Biotechnology ? an umbrella body in Barcelona, Spain, that represents biotech researchers, institutes and companies across Europe ? called for the study to be retracted, describing its publication as a ?dangerous case of failure of the peer-review system?.

S?ralini argues that a battery of observations in the study reinforces his tumour-incidence and mortality claims. ?Of course, this should be replicated by others, but we believe in these results,? he says. He agrees that more rats would have boosted his study?s statistical power, but says that he did not design the experiment to show differences in tumour incidences, because he was not expecting to find any ? no previous tests on GM foods had suggested a cancer risk.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=2b0eee7f1cfcf2898a7decc26da36d87

pregnant man outside lands 2012 lineup beloved ufc results water for elephants old school nick swisher

Real Estate Investing - What Program is Best? - Joyfully Home

Real Estate Investing. Do you want to buy houses? Do you want to flip houses? Chase foreclosures or short sales? Do you know about "subject to" investing? Or how about lease option, wholesale, rehab and retail, buy and hold, mobile homes, apartments, commercial properties, probates, etc.? There are so many gurus teaching how to become rich with real estate investing that it is confusing. Who is the most reputable, experienced, and trustworthy teacher for what you want to do? What niche in real estate investing do you think you want to specialize in?

All of these questions are valid. How do you know who is the best teacher for you before you spend your money on their program? How do you know if the program will work for you?

The answer to the above questions are: It Depends.

It depends on the market. For example, when the market is 90% foreclosures, "subject to" investing (taking over someone's existing loan) isn't usually profitable because most houses are over encumbered. You could find a free and clear property, but then you wouldn't be taking the property subject to the loan because there is no loan. You may want to use a seller financing technique.

It depends on who you ask. For example, it probably isn't best to ask a person who has never bought a property. Or a person who has bought everyone's product and never put it to use. It is a good idea to attend your local real estate investment group or club. You should be able to find seasoned investors to talk to and ask who trained them. Go on to real estate investing forums and ask your question. Attend some seminars and listen to the speaker and ask other attendees what they think.

It depends on where you live. For example, if you decide that you wanted to pursue lease options and you lived in Texas, you'd be breaking the law. If you wanted to take a property subject to the existing loan that was days away from the foreclosure sale you'd be breaking the law if you lived in Florida. How do you find out what is outlawed in your state? Attend a local investment club.

It also depends on how much money you have to spend. For example, the price of programs range from several hundred dollars to tens of thousands. After you do your due diligence on a speaker, you find out that his/her products are out of your price range. You want to get started, but don't have the money. You could become a partner with someone else and split the cost, but partnerships have a whole array of their own difficulties. You can seek out a joint venture partner who is more experienced if you find a good opportunity.

It depends on your job. For example, if you work full time, how are you going to answer calls when the homeowner calls you back? Do you have the time to be driving all over your county looking at houses? Would you need to have a system that is automated and didn't require much input from you?

It depends on your support system (spouse, family, friends). For example, if you are married and your spouse doesn't want you spending the money or they think that real estate investing is a pipe dream and keep telling you to get a real job, then you must be very motivated to overcome the negative comments. I'm not suggesting you get a new spouse, but this attitude could suggest other problems in the relationship.

It depends on You. For example, are you a self motivated person or do you need someone to tell you what to do? You can read all about the programs available, but if you just can't get going with writing letters, putting ads in the paper or some type of marketing, then you probably aren't going to get any leads. Without leads, there's nothing to buy. It could be a good idea to get coaching if you aren't having success. But to be successful, you need to do what needs to be done.

So, there you have it. One suggestion that I can make it that you can listen for free to Prosperity Through Real Estate internet radio program and hear what the most successful investors and real estate trainers in the country have to say. This is a great place to start your research without being sold anything or encountering any annoying sales pitches. You can then better evaluate what niche resonates with you in your market and in your own present situation. Perhaps you'll hear something that will get you to say "I can do that!".

Source: http://joyfullyathome.blogspot.com/2012/10/real-estate-investing-what-program-is.html

andy cohen andy cohen mozambique oosthuizen great expectations jake owen oosthuizen louis

Minimalist Wallet Offers Skinny Style

Here’s another one for my wallet freak friends. The Minimalist wallet by CAPSULE is a Kickstarter project that has already met their funding goal of $16,500. The wallet is made of Black napa leather and features two card compartments and a separate cash storage area. An easily accessible front card slot has been designed to [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/10/10/minimalist-wallet-offers-skinny-style/

andrew brietbart branson mo monkees songs danica patrick school closings top chef texas rail gun

Synthetic liver enzyme could result in more effective drugs with fewer side effects

ScienceDaily (Oct. 9, 2012) ? Medicines could be made to have fewer side effects and work in smaller doses with the help of a new technique that makes drug molecules more resistant to breakdown by the human liver.

Researchers based at Princeton University reported in the journal Science that they created a synthetic enzyme that acts as a catalyst to replace certain hydrogen atoms of a drug molecule with fluorine atoms. This swap stabilizes the molecule and makes it resistant to the liver enzymes that can inactivate a drug or create toxic byproducts.

"Putting fluorine in place of hydrogen in a molecule tends to result in higher potency and lower toxicity," said first author Wei Liu, a graduate student in the laboratory of John Groves, Princeton's Hugh Stott Taylor Chair of Chemistry. Wei worked with Groves and second author Xiongyi Huang, a Princeton chemistry graduate student, as well as with Professor William Goddard III, researcher and lab director Robert Nielsen, and graduate student Mu-Jeng Cheng, all of the California Institute of Technology's Materials and Process Simulation Center.

Substituting fluorine for hydrogen changes the ability of liver enzymes to modify a drug, Groves said. Those enzymes break down medicines and other foreign substances that enter the body resulting in byproducts known as metabolites. Metabolites sometimes interact in harmful ways with liver cells and cause unwanted side effects. Fluorine reduces or eliminates the production of metabolites because the liver enzymes cannot break down the fluorinated drugs, Groves said.

"The strategy is to put fluorine at a site on the molecule where it would block metabolism by liver enzymes," Groves said. In some cases, he said, liver enzymes may not be able to break down the fluorinated drug at all, allowing more of the drug to persist in the body.

The synthetic enzyme could have uses in drug discovery and development including in improving existing drugs such as steroids, Groves explained. Steroids are used as anti-inflammatory drugs as well as in hormone-replacement therapies and birth-control pills. Steroid hormones that might be improved by fluorination include progesterone, premarin and estradiol, all of which are among the top 200 drugs in sales. The Princeton enzyme also could make it easier and less expensive to produce radioactive tracer versions of many drugs, which could be used with medical imaging to understand how and where drugs work in the body.

Tobias Ritter, a Harvard University associate professor of chemistry, said that the Princeton catalyst's novel abilities represent "a quantum leap in the fluorination field." Ritter is familiar with the study but had no role in it.

"The most exciting advance described in the paper is the fundamental reactivity of transforming carbon-hydrogen bonds into carbon-fluorine bonds using a fluoride-oxidant mixture," Ritter said. "Not only were chemists not able to perform such reactions in the past, we are not aware of similar reactions occurring in nature."

The catalyst Liu, Groves and Huang created breaks certain carbon-to-hydrogen bonds on pharmaceutical molecules and replaces the hydrogen with fluorine. Once the catalyst was developed, the Caltech group led by Goddard created computer models to explore its actions.

The synthetic enzyme is similar in structure to a naturally occurring iron-based liver enzyme called cytochrome P450, which normally replaces hydrogen atoms with oxygen atoms. The Princeton catalyst instead uses the metal manganese as a center atom. Because the manganese catalyst mimics the behavior of human liver enzymes, the compounds created when the catalyst is used in drug development are less likely to be broken down by those natural enzymes, Groves said.

The work grew out of the Groves' lab work on cytochrome P450. In 2010, Liu and Groves reported in the Journal of the American Chemistry Society the successful development of a synthetic manganese-based P450 that could replace hydrogen with a chlorine atom instead of an oxygen atom, which made drug molecules more reactive.

Suspecting that this catalyst could replace hydrogen with fluorine as well, Liu tested different fluorine-containing materials and eventually discovered that a combination of silver fluoride and tetrabutylammonium fluoride trihydrate led to drug fluorination. Huang isolated pure crystals of the manganese catalyst and assisted with modeling the molecule using computers.

An advantage for using the catalyst in drug development is that it uses a stable form of fluorine called silver fluoride as a base material instead of fluorine gas, which reacts with numerous other atoms and can be explosive.

"We can use ordinary fluoride salts, almost like the stuff that goes into toothpaste," Groves said.

The paper, "Oxidative Aliphatic C-H Fluorination with Fluoride Ion Catalyzed by a Manganese Porphyrin," was published Sept. 14 in Science, and was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation. The collaboration with Caltech stemmed from the Center for Catalytic Hydrocarbon Functionalization collaborative program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Princeton University. The original article was written by Catherine Zandonella.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. W. Liu, X. Huang, M.-J. Cheng, R. J. Nielsen, W. A. Goddard, J. T. Groves. Oxidative Aliphatic C-H Fluorination with Fluoride Ion Catalyzed by a Manganese Porphyrin. Science, 2012; 337 (6100): 1322 DOI: 10.1126/science.1222327

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/_rI2G7V1qKg/121009152103.htm

bruce weber boston globe google maps 8 bit mirror mirror robyn texas relays meniscus