Flow and Heat Transfer during an Expansion Stroke in a Composite Fluid/Porous System

The purpose of this study is to analyze the fluid flow and heat transfer in a pipe partially filled with porous media and provided with a flat piston during an expansion stroke. In addition to the Navier-Stokes equation for the fluid region, Brinkman-Forchheimer-Lapwood-extended Darcy’s model is introduced into the numerical solver to simulate flow and heat transfer in the porous insert. The heat transfer in porous media is studied by using the assumption of local thermal equilibrium. The discretization procedure is based on Control-Volume-based Finite Element Method. The coupled pressure-velocity equations are solved using the SIMPLER algorithm. This investigation concerns the hydrodynamic characteristics, using the Reynolds numbers and the porosity effects, and the heat transfer characteristics using the heat capacity and the thermal conductivity ratios effects

Graphene-based mid-infrared room-temperature pyroelectric bolometers with ultrahigh temperature coefficient of resistance.

There is a growing number of applications demanding highly sensitive photodetectors in the mid-infrared. Thermal photodetectors, such as bolometers, have emerged as the technology of choice, because they do not need cooling. The performance of a bolometer is linked to its temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR, ∼2-4% K-1 for state-of-the-art materials). Graphene is ideally suited for optoelectronic applications, with a variety of reported photodetectors ranging from visible to THz frequencies. For the mid-infrared, graphene-based detectors with TCRs ∼4-11% K-1 have been demonstrated. Here we present an uncooled, mid-infrared photodetector, where the pyroelectric response of a LiNbO3 crystal is transduced with high gain (up to 200) into resistivity modulation for graphene. This is achieved by fabricating a floating metallic structure that concentrates the pyroelectric charge on the top-gate capacitor of the graphene channel, leading to TCRs up to 900% K-1, and the ability to resolve temperature variations down to 15 μK

Graphene-based mid-infrared room-temperature pyroelectric bolometers with ultrahigh temperature coefficient of resistance

There is a growing number of applications demanding highly sensitive photodetectors in the mid-infrared. Thermal photodetectors, such as bolometers, have emerged as the technology of choice, because they do not need cooling. The performance of a bolometer is linked to its temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR 2–4%K^(-1) for state-of-the-art materials). Graphene is ideally suited for optoelectronic applications, with a variety of reported photodetectors ranging from visible to THz frequencies. For the mid-infrared, graphene-based detectors with TCRs 4–11%K^(-1) have been demonstrated. Here we present an uncooled, mid-infrared photodetector, where the pyroelectric response of a LiNbO3 crystal is transduced with high gain (up to 200) into resistivity modulation for graphene. This is achieved by fabricating a floating metallic structure that concentrates the pyroelectric charge on the top-gate capacitor of the graphene channel, leading to TCRs up to 900%K^(-1), and the ability to resolve temperature variations down to 15mK

Effect of DMSO on the mechanical and structural properties of model and biological membranes

This is the final version. Available from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordDimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is widely used in a number of biological and biotechnological applications, mainly because of its effects on the cell plasma membrane, but the molecular origins of this action are yet to be fully clarified. In this work, we used two- and three-component synthetic membranes (liposomes) and the plasma membrane of human erythrocytes to investigate the effect of DMSO when added to the membrane-solvating environment. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermal fluctuation spectroscopy revealed significant differences in the response of the two types of liposome systems to DMSO in terms of the bilayer thermotropic behavior, available free volume of the bilayer, its excess surface area, and bending elasticity. DMSO also alters the mechanical properties of the erythrocyte membrane in a concentration-dependent manner and is capable of increasing membrane permeability to ATP at even relatively low concentrations (3% v/v and above). Taken in its entirety, these results show that DMSO is likely to have a differential effect on heterogeneous biological membranes, depending on their local composition and structure, and could affect membrane-hosted biological functions.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC

Synthesis of reaction-adapted zeolites as methanol-to-olefins catalysts with mimics of reaction intermediates as organic structure-directing agents

[EN] Catalysis with enzymes and zeolites have in common the presence of well-defined single active sites and pockets/cavities where the reaction transition states can be stabilized by longer-range interactions. We show here that for a complex reaction, such as the conversion of methanol-to-olefins (MTO), it is possible to synthesize reaction-adapted zeolites by using mimics of the key molecular species involved in the MTO mechanism. Effort has focused on the intermediates of the paring mechanism because the paring is less favoured energetically than the side-chain route. All the organic structure-directing agents based on intermediate mimics crystallize cage-based small-pore zeolitic materials, all of them capable of performing the MTO reaction. Among the zeolites obtained, RTH favours the whole reaction steps following the paring route and gives the highest propylene/ethylene ratio compared to traditional CHA-related zeolites (3.07 and 0.86, respectively).Li, C.; Paris, C.; Martínez-Triguero, J.; Boronat Zaragoza, M.; Moliner Marin, M.; Corma Canós, A. (2018). Synthesis of reaction-adapted zeolites as methanol-to-olefins catalysts with mimics of reaction intermediates as organic structure-directing agents. Nature Catalysis. 1(7):547-554. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-018-0104-7S54755417Stocker, M. Methanol-to-hydrocarbons: catalytic materials and their behavior. Micro. Mesopor. Mater. 29, 3–48 (1999).Tian, P., Wei, Y., Ye, M. & Liu, Z. Methanol to olefins (MTO): from fundamentals to commercialization. ACS Catal. 5, 1922–1938 (2015).Ilias, S. & Bhan, A. Mechanism of the catalytic conversion of methanol to hydrocarbons. ACS Catal. 3, 18–31 (2013).Olsbye, U. et al. 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Synthesis of the heptamethylbenzene cation in zeolite beta: in situ NMR and theory. Catal. Lett. 81, 49–53 (2002).Xu, S. et al. Direct observation of cyclic carbenium ions and their role in the catalytic cycle of the metahnol-to-olefin reaction over chabazite zeolites. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 52, 11564–11568 (2013).Chen, J. et al. Elucidating the olefin formation mechanism in the methanol to olefin reaction over AlPO-18 and SAPO-18. Catal. Sci. Tech. 4, 3268–3277 (2014).Haw, J. F. et al. Roles for cyclopentenyl cations in the synthesis of hydrocarbons from methanol on zeolite catalyst HZSM-5. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 122, 4763–4775 (2000).Svelle, S. et al. Conversion of methanol into hydrocarbons over zeolite H-ZSM-5: ethene formation is mechanistically separated from the formation of higher alkenes. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 128, 14770–14771 (2006).Teketel, S., Olsbye, U., Lillerud, K. P., Beato, P. & S., S. Selectivity control through fundamental mechanistic insight in the conversion of methanol to hydrocarbons over zeolites. Micro. Mesopor. Mater. 136, 33–41 (2010).Zhang, M. et al. Methanol conversion on ZSM-22, ZSM-35 and ZSM-5 zeolites: effects of 10-membered ring zeolite structures on methylcyclopentenyl cations and dual cycle mechanism. RSC Adv. 6, 95855–95864 (2016).Sassi, A. et al. Methylbenzene chemistry on zeolite HBeta: multiple insights into methanol-to-olefin catalysis. J. Phys. Chem. B 106, 2294–2303 (2002).Sassi, A., Wildman, M. A. & Haw, J. F. Reactions of butylbenzene isomers on zeolite HBeta: methanol-to-olefins hydrocarbon pool chemistry and secondary reactions of olefins. J. Phys. Chem. B 106, 8768–8773 (2002).Bjørgen, M., Olsbye, U., Petersen, D. & Kolboe, S. The methanol-to-hydrocarbons reaction: insight into the reaction mechanism from [12C]benzene and [13C]methanol coreactions over zeolite H-beta. J. Catal. 221, 1–10 (2004).McCann, D. M. et al. A complete catalytic cycle for supramolecular methanol-to-olefins conversion by linking theory with experiment. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 47, 5179–5182 (2008).Arstad, B., Kolboe, S. & Swang, O. Theoretical study of the heptamethylbenzenium ion. intramolecular isomerizations and C2, C3, C4 alkene elimination. J. Phys. Chem. A 109, 8914–8922 (2005).De Wispelaere, K., Hemelsoet, K., Waroquier, M. & Van Speybroeck, V. Complete low-barrier side-chain route for olefin formation during methanol conversion in H-SAPO-34. J. Catal. 305, 76–80 (2013).Wang, C. M., Wang, Y. D. & Xie, Z. K. Verification of the dual cycle mechanism for methanol-to-olefin conversion in HSAPO-34: a methylbenzene-based cycle from DFT calculations. Catal. Sci. Technol. 4, 2631–2638 (2014).Wang, C. M., Wang, Y. D., Liu, H. X., Xie, Z. K. & Liu, Z. P. Theoretical insight into the minor role of paring mechanism in the methanol-to-olefins conversion within HSAPO-34 catalyst. Micro. Mesopor. 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(Gaussian, Wallingford, 2009).Van Speybroeck, V. et al. First principle chemical kinetics in zeolites: the methanol-to-olefin process as a case study. Chem. Soc. Rev. 43, 7326–7357 (2014)

Modification of Collagen by 3-Deoxyglucosone Alters Wound Healing through Differential Regulation of p38 MAP Kinase

Background: Wound healing is a highly dynamic process that requires signaling from the extracellular matrix to the fibroblasts for migration and proliferation, and closure of the wound. This rate of wound closure is impaired in diabetes, which may be due to the increased levels of the precursor for advanced glycation end products, 3-deoxyglucosone (3DG). Previous studies suggest a differential role for p38 mitogen-activated kinase (MAPK) during wound healing; whereby, p38 MAPK acts as a growth kinase during normal wound healing, but acts as a stress kinase during diabetic wound repair. Therefore, we investigated the signaling cross-talk by which p38 MAPK mediates wound healing in fibroblasts cultured on native collagen and 3DG-collagen. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using human dermal fibroblasts cultured on 3DG-collagen as a model of diabetic wounds, we demonstrated that p38 MAPK can promote either cell growth or cell death, and this was dependent on the activation of AKT and ERK1/2. Wound closure on native collagen was dependent on p38 MAPK phosphorylation of AKT and ERK1/2. Furthermore, proliferation and collagen production in fibroblasts cultured on native collagen was dependent on p38 MAPK regulation of AKT and ERK1/2. In contrast, 3DG-collagen decreased fibroblast migration, proliferation, and collagen expression through ERK1/2 and AKT downregulation via p38 MAPK. Conclusions/Significance: Taken together, the present study shows that p38 MAPK is a key signaling molecule that plays

Chaperones convert the energy from ATP into the nonequilibrium stabilization of native proteins.

During and after protein translation, molecular chaperones require ATP hydrolysis to favor the native folding of their substrates and, under stress, to avoid aggregation and revert misfolding. Why do some chaperones need ATP, and what are the consequences of the energy contributed by the ATPase cycle? Here, we used biochemical assays and physical modeling to show that the bacterial chaperones GroEL (Hsp60) and DnaK (Hsp70) both use part of the energy from ATP hydrolysis to restore the native state of their substrates, even under denaturing conditions in which the native state is thermodynamically unstable. Consistently with thermodynamics, upon exhaustion of ATP, the metastable native chaperone products spontaneously revert to their equilibrium non-native states. In the presence of ATPase chaperones, some proteins may thus behave as open ATP-driven, nonequilibrium systems whose fate is only partially determined by equilibrium thermodynamics