scholarly journals Hydrophobic-hydrophilic crown-like structure enables aquatic insects to reside effectively beneath the water surface

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiaki Suzuki ◽  
Yasuharu Takaku ◽  
Hiroshi Suzuki ◽  
Daisuke Ishii ◽  
Tateo Shimozawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Tension ◽  
Water Column ◽  
Aquatic Insects ◽  
Water Surface ◽  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Hydrophobic Region ◽  
Adhesive Disc ◽  
Biological Surfaces ◽  
Hydrophilic Region

AbstractVarious insects utilise hydrophobic biological surfaces to live on the surface of water, while other organisms possess hydrophilic properties that enable them to live within a water column. Dixidae larvae reside, without being submerged, just below the water surface. However, little is known about how these larvae live in such an ecological niche. Herein, we use larvae of Dixa longistyla (Diptera: Dixidae) as experimental specimens and reveal their characteristics. A complex crown-like structure on the abdomen consists of hydrophobic and hydrophilic elements. The combination of these contrasting features enables the larvae to maintain their position as well as to move unidirectionally. Their hydrophobic region leverages water surface tension to function as an adhesive disc. By using the resistance of water, the hydrophilic region serves as a rudder during locomotion.

Immunoferritin localization of intracellular antigens in positively stained frozen sections

1978 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-169
Author(s):  
K. T. Tokuyasu
Keyword(s):  
Surface Tension ◽  
Water Surface ◽  
Thin Layers ◽  
The Other ◽  
Positive Staining ◽  
Frozen Sections ◽  
The Past ◽  
Ultrathin Frozen Sections ◽  
Definition Of

During the past investigations of immunoferritin localization of intracellular antigens in ultrathin frozen sections, we found that the degree of negative staining required to delineate u1trastructural details was often too dense for the recognition of ferritin particles. The quality of positive staining of ultrathin frozen sections, on the other hand, has generally been far inferior to that attainable in conventional plastic embedded sections, particularly in the definition of membranes. As we discussed before, a main cause of this difficulty seemed to be the vulnerability of frozen sections to the damaging effects of air-water surface tension at the time of drying of the sections.Indeed, we found that the quality of positive staining is greatly improved when positively stained frozen sections are protected against the effects of surface tension by embedding them in thin layers of mechanically stable materials at the time of drying (unpublished).

scholarly journals Adsorption Properties of Hydrocarbon and Fluorocarbon Surfactants Ternary Mixture at the Water-Air Interface

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (14) ◽  
pp. 4313
Author(s):  
Bronisław Jańczuk ◽  
Katarzyna Szymczyk ◽  
Anna Zdziennicka
Keyword(s):  
Surface Tension ◽  
Water Surface ◽  
Standard Free Energy ◽  
Ternary Mixtures ◽  
Free Energy Of Adsorption ◽  
Interface Tension ◽  
Air Interface ◽  
Surface Excess Concentration ◽  
Tail Water ◽  
Triton X

Measurements were made of the surface tension of the aqueous solutions of p-(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl) phenoxypoly(ethylene glycols) having 10 oxyethylene groups in the molecule (Triton X-100, TX100) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) with Zonyl FSN-100 (FC6EO14, FC1) as well as with Zonyl FSO-100 (FC5EO10, FC2) ternary mixtures. The obtained results were compared to those provided by the Fainerman and Miller equation and to the values of the solution surface tension calculated, based on the contribution of a particular surfactant in the mixture to the reduction of water surface tension. The changes of the aqueous solution ternary surfactants mixture surface tension at the constant concentration of TX100 and CTAB mixture at which the water surface tension was reduced to 60 and 50 mN/m as a function of fluorocarbon surfactant concentration, were considered with regard to the composition of the mixed monolayer at the water-air interface. Next, this composition was applied for the calculation of the concentration of the particular surfactants in the monolayer using the Frumkin equation. On the other hand, the Gibbs surface excess concentration was determined only for the fluorocarbon surfactants. The tendency of the particular surfactants to adsorb at the water-air interface was discussed, based on the Gibbs standard free energy of adsorption which was determined using different methods. This energy was also deduced, based on the surfactant tail surface tension and tail-water interface tension.

Scale and Configuration Effects of an Airchamber on PTO of Oscillating Water Column Type Wave Energy Converters

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomoki Ikoma ◽  
Shota Hirai ◽  
Yasuhiro Aida ◽  
Koichi Masuda
Keyword(s):  
Water Column ◽  
Wave Energy ◽  
Water Surface ◽  
Air Pressure ◽  
Scale Model ◽  
Linear Potential ◽  
Oscillating Water Column ◽  
Wave Energy Converters ◽  
Air Chamber ◽  
Energy Converters

Abstract Wave energy converters (WECs) have been extensively researched. The behaviour of the oscillating water column (OWC) in OWC WECs is extremely complex due to the interaction of waves, air, and turbines. Several problems must be overcome before such WECs can be put to practical use. One problem is that the effect of the difference in scale between a small-scale experimental model and a full-scale model is unclear. In this study, several OWC models with different scales and geometries were used in forced oscillation tests. The wave tank was 7.0 m wide, 24.0 m long, and 1.0 m deep. In the static water experiment, we measured the air pressure and water surface fluctuations in an air chamber. For the experiments, models with a box shape with an open bottom, a manifold shape with an open bottom, and a box shape with a front opening, respectively, were fabricated. Furthermore, 1/1, 1/2, and 1/4 scale models were fabricated for each shape to investigate the effects of scale and shape on the air chamber characteristics. Numerical calculations were carried out by applying linear potential theory and the results were compared with the experimental values. The results confirmed that the air chamber shape and scale affect the air pressure fluctuation and water surface fluctuation inside the OWC system.

Investigation of Three-Dimensional Flow in Microchannels With Patterned Surfaces

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Auro Ashish Saha ◽  
Sushanta K. Mitra
Keyword(s):  
Surface Tension ◽  
Flow Instability ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Surface Characteristics ◽  
Bottom Wall ◽  
Surface Tension Effect ◽  
Hydrophobic Region ◽  
Side Walls ◽  
Dimensional Simulation

A three-dimensional numerical simulation of flow in patterned microchannel with alternate layers of hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces at the bottom wall is studied here. Surface characteristics of the microchannel are accounted by specifying the contact angle and the surface tension of the fluid. Meniscus profiles with varying amplitude and shapes are obtained under the different specified surface conditions. Flow instability increases as the fluid at the bottom wall traverses alternately from hydrophilic region to hydrophobic region. To understand the surface tension effect of the side walls, a two-dimensional numerical study has also been carried out for the microchannel and the results are compared with three-dimensional simulation. The surface tension effect of the side walls enhances the capillary effect for three-dimensional case.

Pilgrim Trust Lecture, Molecular layers

1939 ◽  
Vol 170 (940) ◽  
pp. 1-39 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Tension ◽  
Olive Oil ◽  
Water Surface ◽  
Organic Molecules ◽  
Critical Thickness ◽  
Clean Water ◽  
Oily Contamination ◽  
Molecular Layers ◽  
Modern Work

If fragments of camphor are placed upon a clean water surface they move about vigorously and may even be made to propel toy boats. The late Lord Rayleigh (1890 a, 1890 c) found that these movements stopped rather abruptly if the surface tension of the water was lowered by 21 dynes/cm. by oily contamination of the surface. The amount of olive oil needed for this purpose was surprisingly small, corresponding to a thickness of only 16 A (16 x 10 -8 cm.). Miss Pockels (1891) proved that any amount of olive oil less than enough to give a critical thickness of about 10 A had no effect whatever on the surface tension of water, but above this limit the surface tension decreased rapidly as the amount of oil was increased. Only 5 g. of olive oil would be needed to cover an acre of water surface with a film of this critical thickness. Miss Pockels also showed that accidental contamination of the surface, which had previously complicated nearly all observations of surface-tension phenomena, could be eliminated by using a trough filled to the brim with water, and sweeping impurities off the surface by the motion of barriers which rested on the edges of the trough. This use of movable barriers to confine films, to compress them or to remove them from the surface, laid the foundation for nearly all the modern work with films on water. The early theories of surface tension had been developed by physicists (Thomas Young 1805; Laplace, Gauss, etc.) who either treated liquids as continuous fluids between whose elements of volume forces acted, or considered only spherical molecules which exerted upon one another forces that varied as a function of the distance between molecular centres. Such theories naturally could not take into account the wealth of knowledge that had been accumulated by organic chemists regarding the structures of organic molecules.

scholarly journals An Elastin-Derived Self-Assembling Polypeptide

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonietta Pepe ◽  
Brigida Bochicchio
Keyword(s):  
Elastic Properties ◽  
Matrix Protein ◽  
Extracellular Matrix Protein ◽  
Elastic Fibers ◽  
Hydrophobic Region ◽  
Beta Turn ◽  
Self Assembling ◽  
Polypeptide Sequence ◽  
Hydrophilic Region ◽  
Self Aggregation

Elastin is an extracellular matrix protein responsible for the elastic properties of organs and tissues, the elastic properties being conferred to the protein by the presence of elastic fibers. In the perspective of producing tailor-made biomaterials of potential interest in nanotechnology and biotechnology fields, we report a study on an elastin-derived polypeptide. The choice of the polypeptide sequence encoded by exon 6 of Human Tropoelastin Gene is dictated by the peculiar sequence of the polypeptide. As a matter of fact, analogously to elastin, it is constituted of a hydrophobic region (GLGAFPAVTFPGALVPGG) and of a more hydrophilic region rich of lysine and alanine residues (VADAAAAYKAAKA). The role played by the two different regions in triggering the adoption of beta-turn and beta-sheet conformations is herein discussed and demonstrated to be crucial for the self-aggregation properties of the polypeptide.

cDNA cloning and immunolocalization of a Na(+)-H+ exchanger in LLC-PK1 renal epithelial cells

1991 ◽  
Vol 261 (6) ◽  
pp. F1088-F1094 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. F. Reilly ◽  
F. Hildebrandt ◽  
D. Biemesderfer ◽  
C. Sardet ◽  
J. Pouyssegur ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fusion Protein ◽  
Human Growth ◽  
Relative Molecular Mass ◽  
Hydrophobic Region ◽  
Amino Terminal ◽  
Established Line ◽  
Hydrophilic Region ◽  
Antipeptide Antibody ◽  
Carboxy Terminal ◽  
Hydrophilic Domain

LLC-PK1 cells, an established line from pig kidney, express basolateral and apical Na(+)-H+ exchangers that can be distinguished by their different sensitivities to the amiloride analogue, N-ethyl-N-isopropylamiloride. In the present study, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and library screening were used to clone a cDNA for one of the exchangers, based on homology with the recently isolated cDNA for a human growth factor-activatable Na(+)-H+ exchanger. There proved to be significant homology between the LLC-PK1 and human sequences, with nucleotide identities of 75, 93, and 85% in the 5'-untranslated, coding, and 3'-untranslated regions, respectively. The LLC-PK1 cDNA encodes a predicted protein of 818 amino acids with a relative molecular mass of 90,999, consisting of an amino-terminal hydrophobic region and a carboxy-terminal hydrophilic region; its deduced amino acid sequence shows 95% identity with that of the human protein. To investigate the localization of the encoded protein, antisera were generated against a synthetic oligopeptide from the hydrophobic region and a fusion protein from the carboxy-terminal hydrophilic domain. Indirect immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy revealed that the antisera labeled the basolateral but not the apical membrane of confluent LLC-PK1 cells. Labeling by the antipeptide antibody was specifically blocked by preincubation with the synthetic peptide and coincided exactly with the pattern produced by a monoclonal antibody against Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase. Thus, the LLC-PK1 cDNA encodes the basolateral Na(+)-H+ exchanger, which must differ structurally from the apical form, at least in the region of the oligopeptide and the fusion protein.

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