Percolation properties of two-component, two-phase phospholipid bilayers.

More Than a Monolayer: Relating Lung Surfactant Structure and Mechanics to Composition

This paper concentrates on an investigation of the temperature difference between the fluid and solid phases during heating of a porous slab initially at a low temperature by a flow of a higher temperature incompressible fluid for the case of a random heat transfer coefficient between the fluid and solid phases. A two energy equation model is employed to simulate the temperature difference between the solid and fluid phases. It is shown that the temperature difference forms a wave localized in space. The stochastic response of the temperature difference wave is presented in terms of the mean value and the standard deviation. In numerical examples, the probability density functions of both the uniform and truncated normal distributions are considered to simulate the random behavior of the heat transfer coefficient.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze two different approaches (Models A and B) for an adiabatic boundary condition at the wall of a channel filled with a porous medium. The analytical solutions for the velocity distribution, the fluid and solid phase temperature distributions are derived and compared with numerical solutions. The phenomenon of heat flux bifurcation for Model A is demonstrated. The effects of pertinent parameter C on the applicability of the Models A and B are discussed. Analytical solutions for the overall Nusselt number and the heat flux distribution at the channel wall are derived and the influence of pertinent parameters Da and k on the overall Nusselt number and the heat flux distribution is discussed. Design/methodology/approach – Two approaches (Models A and B) for an adiabatic boundary condition in porous media under local thermal non-equilibrium (LTNE) conditions are analyzed in this work. The analysis is applied to a microchannel which is modeled as a porous medium. Findings – The phenomenon of heat flux bifurcation at the wall for Model A is demonstrated. The effect of pertinent parameter C on the applicability of each model is discussed. Model A is applicable when C is relatively large and Model B is applicable when C is small. The heat flux distribution is obtained and the influence of Da and k is discussed. For Model A, ϕAfin increases and ϕAsub, ϕAcover decrease as Da decreases and k is held constant, ϕAsub increases and ϕAfin, ϕAcover decrease as k increases while Da is held constant; for Model B, ϕBfin increases and ϕBsub decreases either as Da decreases or k decreases. The overall Nusselt number is also obtained and the effect of Da and k is discussed: Nu increases as either Da or k decrease for both models. The overall Nusselt number for Model A is larger than that for Model B when Da is large, the overall Nusselt numbers for Models A and B are equivalent when Da is small. Research limitations/implications – Proper representation of the energy equation and the boundary conditions for heat transfer in porous media is very important. There are two different models for representing energy transfer in porous media: local thermal equilibrium (LTE) and LTNE. Although LTE model is more convenient to use, the LTE assumption is not valid when a substantial temperature difference exists between the solid and fluid phases. Practical implications – Fluid flow and convective heat transfer in porous media have many important applications such as thermal energy storage, nuclear waste repository, electronic cooling, geothermal energy extraction, petroleum processing and heat transfer enhancement. Social implications – This work has important fundamental implications. Originality/value – In this work the microchannel is modeled as an equivalent porous medium. The analytical solutions for the velocity distribution, the fluid and solid phase temperature distributions are obtained and compared with numerical solutions. The first type of heat flux bifurcation phenomenon, which indicates that the direction of the temperature gradient for the fluid and solid phases is different at the channel wall, occurs when Model A is utilized. The effect of pertinent parameter C on the applicability of the models is also discussed. The analytical solutions for the overall Nusselt number and the heat flux distribution at the channel wall are derived, and the effects of pertinent parameters Da and k on the overall Nusselt number and the heat flux distribution are discussed.

Giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) composed of different phospholipid binary mixtures were studied at different temperatures, by a method combining the sectioning capability of the two-photon excitation fluorescence microscope and the partition and spectral properties of 6-dodecanoyl-2-dimethylamino-naphthalene (Laurdan) and Lissamine rhodamine B 1,2-dihexadecanoyl- sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine ( N-Rh-DPPE). We analyzed and compared fluorescence images of GUVs composed of 1,2-dilauroyl- sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine/1,2-dipalmitoyl- sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DLPC/DPPC), 1,2-dilauroyl- sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine/1,2-distearoyl- sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DLPC/DSPC), 1,2-dilauroyl- sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine/1,2-diarachidoyl- sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DLPC/DAPC), 1,2-dimyristoyl- sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine/1,2-distearoyl- sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC/DSPC) (1:1 mol/mol in all cases), and 1,2-dimyristoyl- sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine/1,2-dimyristoyl- sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPE/DMPC) (7:3 mol/mol) at temperatures corresponding to the fluid phase and the fluid-solid phase coexistence. In addition, we studied the solid-solid temperature regime for the DMPC/DSPC and DMPE/DMPC mixtures. From the Laurdan intensity images the generalized polarization function (GP) was calculated at different temperatures to characterize the phase state of the lipid domains. We found a homogeneous fluorescence distribution in the GUV images at temperatures corresponding to the fluid region for all of the lipid mixtures. At temperatures corresponding to phase coexistence we observed concurrent fluid and solid domains in the GUVs independent of the lipid mixture. In all cases the lipid solid domains expanded and migrated around the vesicle surface as we decreased the temperature. The migration of the solid domains decreased dramatically at temperatures close to the solid-fluid→solid phase transition. For the DLPC-containing mixtures, the solid domains showed line, quasicircular, and dendritic shapes as the difference in the hydrophobic chain length between the components of the binary mixture increases. In addition, for the saturated PC-containing mixtures, we found a linear relationship between the GP values for the fluid and solid domains and the difference between the hydrophobic chain length of the binary mixture components. Specifically, at the phase coexistence temperature region the difference in the GP values, associated with the fluid and solid domains, increases as the difference in the chain length of the binary mixture component increases. This last finding suggests that in the solid-phase domains, the local concentration of the low melting temperature phospholipid component increases as the hydrophobic mismatch decreases. At the phase coexistence temperature regime and based on the Laurdan GP data, we observe that when the hydrophobic mismatch is 8 (DLPC/DAPC), the concentration of the low melting temperature phospholipid component in the solid domains is negligible. This last observation extends to the saturated PE/PC mixtures at the phase coexistence temperature range. For the DMPC/DSPC we found that the nonfluorescent solid regions gradually disappear in the solid temperature regime of the phase diagram, suggesting lipid miscibility. This last result is in contrast with that found for DMPE/DMPC mixtures, where the solid domains remain on the GUV surface at temperatures corresponding to that of the solid region. In all cases the solid domains span the inner and outer leaflets of the membrane, suggesting a strong coupling between the inner and outer monolayers of the lipid membrane. This last finding extends previous observations of GUVs composed of DPPE/DPPC and DLPC/DPPC mixtures (Bagatolli and Gratton, 2000, Biophys. J. 78:290–305).

Single component LB film investigated by five scanning probe microscopy methods

Bio-heat diffusion under local thermal non-equilibrium conditions using dual-phase lag-based Green’s functions

Analytical characterization and conceptual assessment of solid and fluid temperature differentials in porous media

A thermal non-equilibrium model with Cattaneo effect for convection in a Brinkman porous layer

1. Merino sheep fed on a diet of chopped wheaten hay, chopped lucerne (Medicago sativa) hay and oat grain were the source of rumen contents for the study. The diet contained (mg/kg dry weight) 3.3 copper, 0.24 molybdenum and 2.8 sulphur. The effects of adding between 5 and 25 mg Mo/kg as ammonium molybdate (AM) or tetrathiomolybdate (TTM) on the distribution and forms of Cu and Mo in rumen contents were investigated in vivo and in vitro. 2. Approximately 88% of the Cu and 94% of the Mo in rumen contents were associated with the solid phase. When AM or TTM was added to rumen contents in vivo or in vitro the proportion of these elements in the solid phase was increased at the expense of the fluid phase. 3. The addition of AM and TTM to rumen contents also decreased the proportion of Cu that was soluble in trichloroacetic acid (50 g/l; TCA) and increased the proportion of Cu that was not extractable by sequential treatment with TCA and neutral detergent. 4. Column chromatography of neutral-detergent extracts of rumen contents revealed that TTM treatment caused Cu to be strongly bound to proteins of high molecular weight. 5. Addition of sulphide to rumen contents did not result in significant changes in the distribution of Cu between the fluid and solid phases, or in the solubility of Cu in TCA. 6. It is postulated that constant removal of TTM from the fluid phase via reaction with proteins and other macromolecules in the solid phase results in greater formation of TTM in vivo than would be expected from solution chemistry. The molybdo-proteins so formed are strong chelators of Cu and may be the agents responsible for the decrease in Cu absorption in animals that consume diets containing high concentrations of Mo.

In this article, I review the current information concerning the partition of the fluorescent probes, cis-parinaric acid (9, 11, 13, 15-cis, trans, trans, cis-octadecatetraenoic acid) and trans-parinaric acid (9, 11, 13, 15-all trans-octadecatetraenoic acid) among aqueous, solid lipid, and fluid lipid phases. The association of these probes with lipid is described by a mole fraction partition coefficient whose value is trypically in the range of 1-5 x 10(6), a reasonable value in light of partition coefficients for other fatty acids between hydrophobic phases and water. The partition coefficient, in the absence of lipid phase changes, is relatively independent of temperature and only slightly dependent on the total aqueous probe concentration. In lipid samples which contain coexisting fluid and solid phases, trans-parinaric acid preferentially partitions into the solid phase, while cis-parinaric acid distributes nearly equally between fluid and solid phases. This partition behavior probably arises from the molecular shape of the cis and trans parinaric acid in mixed lipid systems or membranes it is possible to evaluate the proportion of lipid components involved in phase changes or phase separation. From fluorescence energy transfer between protein typtophan residues and the parinaric acid isomers it is possible to gain information about the organization of lipids and proteins in membranes and model systems. I close the review by considering some of the membrane research areas where these probes and their various lipid derivatives may be particularly useful.

ConspectusPorous materials have wide applications in the fields of catalysis, separation, and energy conversion and storage. Porous materials contain pores that are specifically designed to achieve expectant performance. The solid phases in porous materials are normally completely continuous to form the basic porous frame while the pores are fluid phase within the solid phase. Single crystals are macroscopic materials in three spatial dimensions with the constituent atoms, ions, molecules, or molecular assemblies arranged in an orderly repeating pattern with the ordered structures. The growth of single crystals is indeed a process to arrange these constituents in three dimensions into a repeating pattern within the materials. Today the applications of single crystals are exponentially growing in wide fields, and single crystals are therefore unacknowledged as the pillars of our modern technology. Introducing porosity into single crystals would be expected to create a new kind of porous material in which the basic porous frames are single-crystalline and free of grain boundaries. The structural symmetry is completely maintained within the basic porous frames which are a continuous solid phase, but it is completely lost inside the pores. The porous architecture is free of grain boundaries, and the fully interconnected skeletons are in single-crystalline states within the basic porous frames. Single crystals with porosities can therefore be considered to be a new kind of porous material, but they are single-crystal-like because the structural symmetry is maintained only in the skeletons and completely lost within the pores. We therefore call them porous single crystals or consider them in porous single-crystalline states to stand out with their structural features. Porous single crystals at the macroscale combine the advantages of porous materials and single crystals to incorporate both porosity and structural coherence in a porous architecture, leading to invaluable opportunities to alter the material's properties by controlling the unique structural features to enhance its performance. However, the growth of single crystals in three dimensions reduces the formation of porosities, leading to a fundamental challenge for introducing porosity into single crystals in a traditional process of crystal growth. In this Account, we report the rational design, growth methodology, and microstructural engineering of porous single crystals in a solid-solid transformation. We rationally design a high-density mother phase in a single-crystalline state and transform it into a low-density new phase in a single-crystalline state to introduce porosities into single crystals even incorporating the removal of specific compositions from the mother phase during the growth of porous single crystals. The porosity can be tailored by controlling the change in relative densities from the mother phase to the porous single crystals while the pore size can be engineered by controlling the fabrication conditions. Considering the unique structural features, we explore their functionalities and applications in photoelectrochemical energy conversion, electrochemical alkane conversion, and electrochemical energy storage. We believe that the materials, if tailored into porous single-crystalline states, would not only find a broad range of applications in other fields but also enable a new path for material innovations.

The numerical assessment of volume averaging method in heat transfer modeling of tissue-like porous media

Monte Carlo computer simulations have been used to study the solid and fluid phase properties as well as phase equilibrium in a flexible, united atom, hard sphere chain model of n-heptane/n-octane mixtures. We describe a methodology for calculating the chemical potentials for the components in the mixture based on a technique used previously for atomic mixtures. The mixture was found to conform accurately to ideal solution behavior in the fluid phase. However, much greater nonidealities were seen in the solid phase. Phase equilibrium calculations indicate a phase diagram with solid–fluid phase equilibrium and a eutectic point. The components are only miscible in the solid phase for dilute solutions of the shorter chains in the longer chains.

The present paper is concerned with the propagation of plane waves in a porous medium composed of two solids and two immiscible fluids. Using the principal of virtual complementary work, the expression for complementary strain energy density has been derived and the stress–strain relations for isotropic porous medium are obtained. The capillary pressure arising due to the pressure difference at the interface of two fluid phases has been taken into account, and the solid phases are assumed to be weakly coupled. The idea of compressibility tests is used to find values of the coefficients occurring into the stress–strain relations in terms of the physical properties of individual solid and fluid phases. The equations of motion are obtained using Lagrangian approach, and it has been shown that there may exist four compressional and two shear waves in the medium. Phase speeds of these waves are computed numerically and their dependence on frequency has been depicted graphically.

This paper establishes the concept of elastic wave propagation in a multi-porous medium with different permeabilities by assuming there are n distinct pore fluid phases. The dynamic equation of motion of elastic wave propagation through this multi-porous medium is derived based on Lagrangian mechanics. In this regard, the generalized form of mass coefficients and then the energy loss due to the fluid phases in terms of dissipation coefficients are presented for low-frequency limits with the help of Darcy’s Law of multi-phases system. The elastic coefficients of the constitutive equation in terms of compliance matrix are identified using a series of Gedanken experiments. Some significant results regarding the compressional and rotational waves in a multi-porosity medium are derived. The validation of the theory has been shown by comparing it with the existing theory of single and double porosity. It is observed that there are ( n + 1 ) compressional waves corresponding to solid and fluid phases, whereas only one rotational wave is associated with the solid phase. The concept of multi-porosity theory can contribute to a deeper understanding of wave behaviour in a porous medium.