Atmospheric electrical field measurements near a fresh water reservoir and the formation of the lake breeze

In order to access the effect of the lakes in the atmospheric electrical field, measurements have been carried out near a large man-made lake in southern Portugal, the Alqueva reservoir, during the ALqueva hydro-meteorological EXperiment 2014. The purpose of these conjoint experiments was to study the impact of the Alqueva reservoir on the atmosphere, in particular on the local atmospheric electric environment by comparing measurements taken in the proximity of the lake. Two stations 10 km apart were used, as they were located up- and down-wind of the lake (Amieira and Parque Solar, respectively), in reference to the dominant northwestern wind direction. The up-wind station shows lower atmospheric electric potential gradient (PG) values than the ones observed in the down-wind station between 12 and 20 UTC. The difference in the atmospheric electric PG between the up-wind and the down-wind station is ~30 V/m during the day. This differential occurs mainly during the development of a lake breeze, between 10 and 18 UTC, as a consequence of the surface temperature gradient between the surrounding land and the lake water. In the analysis presented, a correlation is found between the atmospheric electric PG differences and both wind speed and temperature gradients over the lake, thus supporting the influence of the lake breeze over the observed PG variation in the two stations. Two hypotheses are provided to explain this observation: (1) The air that flows from the lake into the land station is likely to increase the local electric conductivity through the removal of ground dust and the transport of cleaner air from higher altitudes with significant light ion concentrations. With such an increase in conductivity, it is expected to see a reduction of the atmospheric electric PG; (2) the resulting air flow over the land station carries negative ions formed by wave splashing in the lake's water surface, as a result of the so-called balloelectric effect. These negative ions will form a space-charge density (SCD) that can reduce the atmospheric electric PG. A formulation is derived here in order to estimate the local SCD

Effect of self-organization and properties of aqueous disperse systems based on the moss peptide PpCLE2 in a low concentration range on the growth of Arabidopsis thaliana roots

© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. It is shown for the first time using a complex of physicochemical methods (dynamic and electrophoretic light scattering, conductometry, pH-metry) that below a threshold concentration of 1.0•10 –7 mol L –1 the disperse phase of the aqueous systems based on moss peptide PpCLE2 undergoes the domain—nanoassociate rearrangement, which affects the nonmonotonic concentration dependences of the specific electrical conductivity and pH and can result in a multidirectional profile of the dependence of the growth of the primary and lateral roots of the Arabidopsis thaliana seed plant in the range of calculated concentrations from 1.0•10 –6 to 1.0•10 –12 mol L –1

The Initial Common Pathway of Inflammation, Disease, and Sudden Death

In reviewing the literature pertaining to interfacial water, colloidal stability, and cell membrane function, we are led to propose that a cascade of events that begins with acute exogenous surfactant-induced interfacial water stress can explain the etiology of sudden death syndrome (SDS), as well as many other diseases associated with modern times. A systemic lowering of serum zeta potential mediated by exogenous cationic surfactant administration is the common underlying pathophysiology. The cascade leads to subsequent inflammation, serum sickness, thrombohemorrhagic phenomena, colloidal instability, and ultimately even death. We propose that a sufficient precondition for sudden death is lowered bioavailability of certain endogenous sterol sulfates, sulfated glycolipids, and sulfated glycosaminoglycans, which are essential in maintaining biological equipose, energy metabolism, membrane function, and thermodynamic stability in living organisms. Our literature review provides the basis for the presentation of a novel hypothesis as to the origin of endogenous bio-sulfates which involves energy transduction from sunlight. Our hypothesis is amply supported by a growing body of data showing that parenteral administration of substances that lower serum zeta potential results in kosmotropic cationic and/or chaotropic anionic interfacial water stress, and the resulting cascade

The self-organizing fractal theory as a universal discovery method: the phenomenon of life

A universal discovery method potentially applicable to all disciplines studying organizational phenomena has been developed. This method takes advantage of a new form of global symmetry, namely, scale-invariance of self-organizational dynamics of energy/matter at all levels of organizational hierarchy, from elementary particles through cells and organisms to the Universe as a whole. The method is based on an alternative conceptualization of physical reality postulating that the energy/matter comprising the Universe is far from equilibrium, that it exists as a flow, and that it develops via self-organization in accordance with the empirical laws of nonequilibrium thermodynamics. It is postulated that the energy/matter flowing through and comprising the Universe evolves as a multiscale, self-similar structure-process, i.e., as a self-organizing fractal. This means that certain organizational structures and processes are scale-invariant and are reproduced at all levels of the organizational hierarchy. Being a form of symmetry, scale-invariance naturally lends itself to a new discovery method that allows for the deduction of missing information by comparing scale-invariant organizational patterns across different levels of the organizational hierarchy

Stochastic light concentration from 3D to 2D reveals ultraweak chemi- and bioluminescence

For countless applications in science and technology, light must be concentrated, and concentration is classically achieved with reflective and refractive elements. However, there is so far no efficient way, with a 2D detector, to detect photons produced inside an extended volume with a broad or isotropic angular distribution. Here, with theory and experiment, we propose to stochastically transform and concentrate a volume into a smaller surface, using a high- albedo Ulbricht cavity and a small exit orifice through cavity walls. A 3D gas of photons produced inside the cavity is transformed with a 50% number efficiency into a 2D Lambertian emitting orifice with maximal radiance and a much smaller size. With high-albedo quartz-powder cavity walls ( P = 99.94%), the orifice area is 1/( 1 - P) approximate to 1600 times smaller than the walls' area. When coupled to a detectivity-optimized photon-counter ( D = 0.015 photon- 1 s1/ 2 cm) the detection limit is 110 photon s- 1 L- 1. Thanks to this unprecedented sensitivity, we could detect the luminescence produced by the non-catalytic disproportionation of hydrogen peroxide in pure water, which has not been observed so far. We could also detect the ultraweak bioluminescence produced by yeast cells at the onset of their growth. Our work opens new perspectives for studying ultraweak luminescence, and the concept of stochastic 3D/2D conjugation should help design novel light detection methods for large samples or diluted emitters

Effect of self-organization and properties of aqueous disperse systems based on the moss peptide PpCLE2 in a low concentration range on the growth of Arabidopsis thaliana roots

© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. It is shown for the first time using a complex of physicochemical methods (dynamic and electrophoretic light scattering, conductometry, pH-metry) that below a threshold concentration of 1.0•10 –7 mol L –1 the disperse phase of the aqueous systems based on moss peptide PpCLE2 undergoes the domain—nanoassociate rearrangement, which affects the nonmonotonic concentration dependences of the specific electrical conductivity and pH and can result in a multidirectional profile of the dependence of the growth of the primary and lateral roots of the Arabidopsis thaliana seed plant in the range of calculated concentrations from 1.0•10 –6 to 1.0•10 –12 mol L –1