Cellular Flame Instabilities

The onset of Darrieus Landau and thermo-diffusive instabilities in an exploding spherical laminar flame is marked by the value of the Peclet number, Pecl, which is dependent upon the Markstein number. Values of Pecl for a number of different mixtures have been measured at 0.5 and 1.0 MPa in a spherical explosion bomb. These values are presented as a function of the flame speed Markstein number, Mab, and it is found that neither different pressures nor the different mixtures have a great effect on this correlation. Values derived from much larger scale atmospheric explosions of methane/air and propane/air also closely follow the same correlation. This suggests data from high pressure laboratory explosions might be used to predict the effects of large scale atmospheric explosions. Findings from other workers follow the same trend, although different detailed results can arise from both different definitions of Markstein number, and different measurement techniques. Because of the importance of a necessary minimal stretch rate to stabilise a flame, a more logical and fundamental criterion for the onset of this type of instability is one based on the flame stretch rate, such as a critical Karlovitz stretch factor, Kcl. As a result, the correlations are also expressed in terms of Kcl, instead of Pecl. As Masr becomes highly negative, the regime of stability is severely reduced

Burning Velocity and Markstein Length Blending Laws for Methane/Air and Hydrogen/Air Blends

Because of the contrasting chemical kinetics of methane and hydrogen combustion, the development of blending laws for laminar burning velocity, ul, and Markstein length for constituent mixtures of CH4/air and H2/air presents a formidable challenge. Guidance is sought through a study of analytical expressions for laminar burning velocity. For the prediction of burning velocities of blends, six blending laws were scrutinised. The predictions were compared with the measured burning velocities made by Hu et al. under atmospheric conditions [1]. These covered equivalence ratios ranging from 0.6 to 1.3, and the full fuel range for H2 addition to CH4. This enabled assessments to be made of the predictive accuracy of the six laws. The most successful law is one developed in the course of the present study, involving the mass fraction weighting of the product of ul, density, heat of reaction and specific heat, divided by the thermal conductivity of the mixture. There was less success from attempts to obtain a comparably successful blending law for the flame speed Markstein length, Lb, despite scrutiny of several possibilities. Details are given of two possible approaches, one based on the fractional mole concentration of the deficient reactant. A satisfactory empirical law employs mass fraction weighting of the product ulLb

Bromodomain and extra-terminal protein mimic JQ1 decreases inflammation in human vascular endothelial cells: Implications for pulmonary arterial hypertension

Background and objective Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB)-mediated inflammatory gene expression and vascular endothelial cell proliferation/remodelling are implicated in the pathophysiology of the fatal disease, pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Bromodomain and extra-terminal (BET) proteins are essential for the expression of a subset of NF-kB-induced inflammatory genes. BET mimics including JQ1+ prevent binding of BETs to acetylated histones and down-regulate the expression of selected genes. Methods The effects of JQ1+ on the proliferation of primary human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMECs) from healthy subjects were measured by bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation. Cell cycle progression was assessed by flow cytometry; mRNA and protein levels of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), inhibitors and cytokines were determined by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), Western blotting or ELISA. Histone acetyltransferase (HAT) and deacetylase (HDAC) activities were determined in nuclear extracts from whole lung of PAH and control patients. Results JQ1+ significantly inhibited IL6 and IL8 (IL6 and CXCL8) mRNA and protein in HPMECs compared with its inactive enantiomer JQ1−. JQ1+ decreased NF-kB p65 recruitment to native IL6 and IL8 promoters. JQ1+ showed a concentration-dependent decrease in HPMEC proliferation compared with JQ1−-treated cells. JQ1+ induced G1 cell cycle arrest by increasing the expression of the CDK inhibitors (CDKN) 1A (p21cip) and CDKN2D (p19INK4D ) and decreasing that of CDK2, CDK4 and CDK6. JQ1+ also inhibited serum-stimulated migration of HPMECs. Finally, HAT activity was significantly increased in the lung of PAH patients. Conclusion Inhibition of BETs in primary HPMECs decreases inflammation and remodelling. BET proteins could be a target for future therapies for PAH

Effects of Marine Reserves versus Nursery Habitat Availability on Structure of Reef Fish Communities

No-take marine fishery reserves sustain commercial stocks by acting as buffers against overexploitation and enhancing fishery catches in adjacent areas through spillover. Likewise, nursery habitats such as mangroves enhance populations of some species in adjacent habitats. However, there is lack of understanding of the magnitude of stock enhancement and the effects on community structure when both protection from fishing and access to nurseries concurrently act as drivers of fish population dynamics. In this study we test the separate as well as interactive effects of marine reserves and nursery habitat proximity on structure and abundance of coral reef fish communities. Reserves had no effect on fish community composition, while proximity to nursery habitat only had a significant effect on community structure of species that use mangroves or seagrass beds as nurseries. In terms of reef fish biomass, proximity to nursery habitat by far outweighed (biomass 249% higher than that in areas with no nursery access) the effects of protection from fishing in reserves (biomass 21% lower than non-reserve areas) for small nursery fish (≤25 cm total length). For large-bodied individuals of nursery species (>25 cm total length), an additive effect was present for these two factors, although fish benefited more from fishing protection (203% higher biomass) than from proximity to nurseries (139% higher). The magnitude of elevated biomass for small fish on coral reefs due to proximity to nurseries was such that nursery habitats seem able to overrule the usually positive effects on fish biomass by reef reserves. As a result, conservation of nursery habitats gains importance and more consideration should be given to the ecological processes that occur along nursery-reef boundaries that connect neighboring ecosystems

The stability of laminar explosion flames

The paper presents the results of a fundamental experimental and theoretical study of Darrieus-Landau, thermo-diffusive, instabilities in atmospheric explosions, and, on a smaller scale, in laboratory explosions in closed vessels. Pressure dependencies were sought to exploit the leading role of the Peclet number in the phenomena, so that similar Peclet numbers were achieved in both instances. However, in the large atmospheric explosions a large Peclet number was achieved by the distance scale of the fireball, whereas in the closed vessel explosion it was achieved at a higher pressure by a much smaller flame, but because of the higher pressure, one endowed with a small laminar flame thickness. This study covers a much wider range of fuels and of pressures and the dependencies of the phenomena on both of these were carefully studied, although, for the atmospheric explosions, the data only covered propane and methane. The roles of both Markstein and Peclet numbers become clear and give rise to a more fundamental correlating parameter, a critical Karlovitz number, Kcl, for flame stability. This is based on the flame stretch rate, normalised by its muliplication by the chemical reaction time in a laminar flame. The experimetnally measured dependencies of this key parameter on pressure and Markstein number are reported for the first time for so many different fuels. The critical Karlovitz number for flame stability decreases with increase in the strain rate Markstein number. As a result, it is possible to predict the extent of the unstable regime for laminar flames as a function of Masr and pressure. Such data can be used to estimate the severity of large scale atmospheric explosions. As Masr becomes highly negative, the regime of stability is markedly reduced

Climate warming, marine protected areas and the ocean-scale integrity of coral reef ecosystems

Coral reefs have emerged as one of the ecosystems most vulnerable to climate variation and change. While the contribution of a warming climate to the loss of live coral cover has been well documented across large spatial and temporal scales, the associated effects on fish have not. Here, we respond to recent and repeated calls to assess the importance of local management in conserving coral reefs in the context of global climate change. Such information is important, as coral reef fish assemblages are the most species dense vertebrate communities on earth, contributing critical ecosystem functions and providing crucial ecosystem services to human societies in tropical countries. Our assessment of the impacts of the 1998 mass bleaching event on coral cover, reef structural complexity, and reef associated fishes spans 7 countries, 66 sites and 26 degrees of latitude in the Indian Ocean. Using Bayesian meta-analysis we show that changes in the size structure, diversity and trophic composition of the reef fish community have followed coral declines. Although the ocean scale integrity of these coral reef ecosystems has been lost, it is positive to see the effects are spatially variable at multiple scales, with impacts and vulnerability affected by geography but not management regime. Existing no-take marine protected areas still support high biomass of fish, however they had no positive affect on the ecosystem response to large-scale disturbance. This suggests a need for future conservation and management efforts to identify and protect regional refugia, which should be integrated into existing management frameworks and combined with policies to improve system-wide resilience to climate variation and change