Tropical (vehicles)

Tropical (successor to Alfa) is a Greek manufacturer involved in machinery and vehicle development and production. Its history is characteristic of a company which has made significant efforts to evolve in a country that effectively forbids production of locally developed passenger cars.

History

(alfa) was founded in 1976, originally producing vehicle bodies, but it soon ventured into vehicle design and development (it customers included ELBO, for which it developed both bus models and production technology). In 1986 it announced its plans to produce a 4-seat city car it had designed; however, the difficulties for obtaining production permit and, possibly, the poor prospects of the car in the Greek market, cancelled its further development. Instead, Alfa focused on the production of a variety of bus types, as well as air-conditioning and refrigeration units for commercial vehicles.

The company went out of business due to the crisis in the bus market in Greece (after imports of used buses were allowed), but it was re-founded as Tropical in 1991. Its main activity switched to design and production of air-conditioning and refrigeration units for commercial vehicles and trains (with significant exports), as well as body and specialized vehicle manufacture. A new chapter in its history opened in 1995, though, when it entered the field of power based on renewable energy sources.

Tropical (EP)

Tropical is an EP by Shit and Shine, released on 14 October 2014 by Gangsigns.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Shit and Shine. 

Personnel

Adapted from the Tropical liner notes.

Release history

References

External links

Tropical music

Tropical music (Spanish: música tropical) is a category used in the music industry to denote Latin music from the Caribbean. It encompasses music from the Spanish-speaking islands and coasts of the Caribbean, as well as genres rooted in this region such as salsa.

In the 1940s and 1950s, the term tropical music was created to cover all music from the hispanophone Caribbean excluding Cuban music, which had its own category and niche within the American (and to a lesser extent European) music market. However, later in the 20th century after the Cuban Revolution, tropical music gained a broader meaning and began to be used in order to distinguish Caribbean genres such as cumbia and son cubano from inland genres such as tejano and norteño.

Characteristics

Due to its geographical roots, tropical music generally combines elements from European and African traditions. An example of this is the process of binarization of ternary rhythms brought from Africa, which took place originally in Cuba, later spreading throughout the rest of the Caribbean and Latin America. The presence of syncopated polyrhythms of African origin make most tropical music naturally dance-oriented. Tropical music instrumentation also includes both European (tres, piano, trumpet, timbales) and African-descended (congas, bongos, marimba) instruments. During the late 20th century, contemporary instruments such as synthesizers and drum machines were incorporated.

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid (ⁱ/diˈɒksiˌraɪboʊnjʊˌkliːɪk, -ˌkleɪɪk/;DNA) is a molecule that carries most of the genetic instructions used in the development, functioning and reproduction of all known living organisms and many viruses. DNA is a nucleic acid; alongside proteins and carbohydrates, nucleic acids compose the three major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life. Most DNA molecules consist of two biopolymer strands coiled around each other to form a double helix. The two DNA strands are known as polynucleotides since they are composed of simpler units called nucleotides. Each nucleotide is composed of a nitrogen-containing nucleobase—either cytosine (C), guanine (G), adenine (A), or thymine (T)—as well as a monosaccharide sugar called deoxyribose and a phosphate group. The nucleotides are joined to one another in a chain by covalent bonds between the sugar of one nucleotide and the phosphate of the next, resulting in an alternating sugar-phosphate backbone. According to base pairing rules (A with T, and C with G), hydrogen bonds bind the nitrogenous bases of the two separate polynucleotide strands to make double-stranded DNA. The total amount of related DNA base pairs on Earth is estimated at 5.0 x 10³⁷, and weighs 50 billion tonnes. In comparison, the total mass of the biosphere has been estimated to be as much as 4 TtC (trillion tons of carbon).

DNA²

DNA² (Japanese: D・N・A² ～何処かで失くしたあいつのアイツ～, Hepburn: Dī En Ei Tsū: Dokoka de Nakushita Aitsu no Aitsu) is a science fiction manga series written and illustrated by Masakazu Katsura. It was serialized across Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine between 1993 and 1994, spanning a total of five tankōbon volumes.

DNA² was adapted into a 12-episode anime television series which ran on Nippon Television from October 7, 1994 to December 23, 1994. This was followed by a three-episode anime original video animation (OVA) in 1995. Produced by Madhouse and Studio Deen, the anime series was directed by Jun'ichi Sakata, whereas the character designer and animation director for the series was Kumiko Takahashi. DNA² has been broadcast in Japan by Animax, which has also aired the series across its respective networks worldwide, including its English-language networks in Southeast Asia and South Asia. All 15 episodes were licensed in North America by Central Park Media until their closing in 2009. The five volumes and box set are out-of-print. Discotek Media has since re-licensed the series for a DVD release in 2014.

DNA2.0

DNA2.0 provides products and services for life science and Synthetic biology research. DNA2.0 also provides free access to research tools such as Gene Designer, DNA Atlas and a gRNA designer.

The company

DNA2.0 was founded in 2003, in Menlo Park, California. The company is privately held and continues to have all research, development and production in Menlo Park, California. It began and continues as a gene synthesis and protein engineering provider to academia, government and the pharmaceutical, chemical, agricultural and biotechnology industries. Gene Synthesis rapidly replaced molecular cloning for many academic and corporate labs, as "foundries for the biotechnology age" allowing made-to-order genes for biological research. DNA2.0 was featured on the PBS show Nova ScienceNow to show how genes are created synthetically in a lab. In 2008, the company supplied some of the DNA stretches used to create a synthetic bacterial genome.Dan Rather Reports included DNA2.0 in their episode on Synthetic Biology and how it is solving "some of the most important problems facing the world." In 2009, The Scientist named the codon design algorithms (now tradmarked as GeneGPS) developed by DNA2.0 as one of the Top 10 Innovations of the year for Life Sciences. DNA2.0 developed the Electra Vector System, a universal cloning system that utilizes the type IIS restriction enzyme SapI and T4 DNA ligase in a single-tube reaction. DNA2.0 has made some molecular components, such as synthetic fluorescent proteins, available in open-access collections of DNA parts (BioBricks Foundation). DNA2.0 is a founding member of the International Gene Synthesis Consortium (IGSC) to promote biosecurity in the gene-synthesis industry. There are over 1,100 published scientific articles using DNA2.0 products and/or services, of which 43 include company employees as an author(s).