scholarly journals The relation of spermatozoa to certain electrolytes.—II

The fact that living spermatozoa move towards the positive pole of an electric field has been known for some years. In a note published in 1915, the writer (8) pointed out that this movement is dependent upon a certain concentration of hydroxyl ions, without which the spermatozoa neither exhibit their normal activity nor do they move in an electric field. In the same paper the behaviour of spermatozoa to such trivalent ions as cerium was briefly described. In the present communication these results are enlarged, and the problem briefly discussed from its theoretical aspect. A considerable mass of evidence now exists to show that the surface charge of a particle or membrane is profoundly affected by the nature of the solution with which it is in contact. Albumen particles, when suspended in an acid medium, are positively charged; when in an alkaline medium they are negatively charged. Perrin (11) has shown that, if a diaphragm separates two phases between which a potential gradient exists, then the gradient can increase or decrease by treating the diaphragm with various agents. In acid solutions a negative diaphragm becomes less negative, and finally positive; in an alkaline solution the negative charge is increased.

The experiments described in this paper are a continuation of work described in a former paper, and have for their object the examination of a mechanism suggested by Wilson in connection with the theory of thunder-clouds. In the former work the interaction of large water-drops with ions produced by X-rays was investigated. In the present work the interaction of large water-drops with electrically charged cloud particles is investigated, and the mechanism suggested by Wilson takes the following form. Consider an uncharged water-drop falling vertically through a cloud of very small water-droplets, each of which has an electric charge either positive or negative. Let there be a vertical electric field which will be taken to be of positive potential gradient so that positively charged cloud particles move down and negatively charged cloud particles move up. The electric field induces equal charges of opposite signs on the upper and lower halves of the drop. In the case considered the upper charge is negative and the lower one positive. A charged cloud particle has a definite small mobility depending on its radius and the charge it carries. Suppose now that the mobility is so small that in strong electric fields, such as occur in thunder-clouds (up to 10,000 volts/cm), the velocity with which the positively charged cloud particles move down is less than the velocity of the falling drop. Under these conditions, those positive cloud particles which are above the drop cannot overtake the drop and so do not reach it, although attracted by the negative charge on its upper half. Those positive cloud particles, which are below and which the drop over-takes, are first repelled by the lower positive charge on the drop before being attracted by the upper negative charge and, since these charges are equal in the neutral drop, these cloud particles do not reach it. Negative cloud particles coming up to meet the falling drop are attracted to its lower positively charged half and give the drop a net negative charge. This destroys the equality of the induced charges, and some of the positive cloud particles which the drop overtakes are now attracted to it. In the presence of equal numbers of positively and negatively charged cloud particles a limiting condition is approached in which the drop collects equal numbers of positive and negative cloud particles per second and has a net negative charge equal to some fraction of the induced charge.


2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Yamauchi ◽  
M. Takeda ◽  
M. Makino ◽  
T. Owada ◽  
I. Miyagi

Abstract. Radioactive materials from the accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant (FNPP) in March 2011 spread over a large area, increasing the atmospheric electric conductivity by their ionizing effect, and reducing the vertical (downward) component of the DC electric field near the ground, or potential gradient (PG). PG data at Kakioka, 150 km away from the FNPP, showed independent changes compared to the radiation dose rate, and a comparison of these data revealed the local dynamics of the radioactive dust. (1) The initial drop of the PG to almost zero during 14–15 March is most likely due to radioactive dust suspended in the air near the ground during cloudy weather. (2) An episode of PG increase to more than 50 V m−1 on 16 March is most likely due to the re-suspension of the radioactive dust from the surface and subsequent removal from Kakioka by the strong wind from the non-contaminated area. (3) Low but finite values of the PG during 16–20 March most likely reflect a reduced amount of radioactive material near the ground after the above wind transported away the majority of the suspended radioactive dust. (4) Very low values of the PG after substantial rain on 20–22 March most likely reflect settlement of the radioactive material by rain-induced fallout. (5) Temporal recovery of daily variations from the end of March to the middle of April with low nighttime fair-weather baseline PG most likely reflects re-suspension of the radioactive dust into the air from the ground and trees, and subsequent transport to the other region or fallout to the ground until late April. (6) Weakening of the daily variation and gradual recovery of the nighttime fair-weather baseline after mid-April suggests a complete settlement of the radioactive material to the ground with partial migration to the subsurface.


2011 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-274
Author(s):  
Samir F. Matar

We address the changes in the electronic structure brought by the insertion of hydrogen into ThCo leading to the experimentally observed ThCoH4. Full geometry optimization positions the hydrogen in three sites stabilized in the expanded intermetallic matrix. From a Bader charge analysis, hydrogen is found to be in a narrow iono-covalent (~−0.6) to covalent (~−0.3) bonding which should enable site-selective desorption. The overall chemical picture shows a positively charged Thδ+ with the negative charge redistributed over a complex anion {CoH4}δ− with δ~1.8. Nevertheless this charge transfer remains far from the one in the more ionic hydridocobaltate anion CoH54− in Mg2CoH5, due to the largely electropositive character of Mg.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stavros Stathopoulos ◽  
Stergios Misios ◽  
Konstantinos Kourtidis

<p>Here we examine the cause-and-effect relations between galactic cosmic rays, electric field, aerosols and clouds over a region of Atlantic Ocean, during a Forbush Decrease (FD) event on 07/12/2015, using Convergent Cross Mapping (CCM) method. For this purpose, we used FD data from the Neuron Monitor Database (NMDB), Potential Gradient data (PG) from Global Coordination of Atmospheric Electricity Measurements (GLOCAEM) and remote sensing data from MODIS/Aqua, namely Aerosol Optical Depth at 550nm (AOD), Cloud Fraction (CF), Cloud Optical Thickness (COT), Cloud Top Pressure (CTP), Cirrus Reflectance (CR) and Cloud Effective Radius-Liquid (CERL). A cause-and-effect relation was found between FD and AOD, CERL, CF and PG, over the region. On the other hand, no causal effect was found between FD and COT, CTP and CR. This research is funded in the context of the project "Cosmic and electric effects on aerosols and clouds” (MIS: 5049552) under the call for proposals “Support for researchers with emphasis on young researchers - Cycle B” (EDULL 103). The project is co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Social Fund - ESF) by the Operational Programme Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning 2014-2020.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mats André ◽  
Anders I. Eriksson ◽  
Yuri V. Khotyaintsev ◽  
Sergio Toledo-Redondo

<p>Wakes behind scientific spacecraft caused by supersonic drifting ions is common in collisionless plasmas. Such wakes change the local plasma conditions and disturb in situ observations of the geophysical plasma parameters. We concentrate on observations of the electric field with double-probe instruments. Sometimes the wake effects are caused by the spacecraft body, are minor and easy to detect, and can be compensated for in a reasonable way. We show an example from the Cluster spacecraft in the solar wind. Sometimes the effects are caused by an electrostatic structure around a positively charged spacecraft causing an enhanced wake and major effects on the local plasma. Here observations of the geophysical electric field with the double-probe technique becomes impossible. Rather, the wake can be used to detect the presence of cold positive ions. Together with other instruments, also the cold ion flux can be estimated. We discuss such examples from the Cluster spacecraft in the magnetospheric lobes. For an intermediate range of parameters, when the drift energy of the ions is comparable to the equivalent charge of the spacecraft, also the charged wire booms of a double-probe instrument must be taken into account to extract useful information from the observations. We show an example from the MMS spacecraft near the magnetopause. With understanding of the physics causing wakes behind spacecraft, the local effects can sometimes be compensated for. When this is not possible, sometimes entirely new geophysical parameters can be estimated. An example is the flux of cold positive ions, constituting a major part of the mass outflow from planet Earth, using electric and magnetic field instruments on a spacecraft charged due to photoionization</p><p> </p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-35
Author(s):  
Vasyl Tchaban ◽  

he differential equations of motion of electrically charged bodies in an uneven vortex electric field at all possible range of velocities are obtained in the article. In the force interaction, in addition to the two components – the Coulomb and Lorentz forces – the third component of a hitherto unknown force is involved. This component turned out to play a crucial role in the dynamics of movement. The equations are written in the usual 3D Euclidean space and physical time.This takes into account the finite speed of electric field propagation and the law of electric charge conservation. On this basis, the trajectory of the electron in an uneven electric field generated by a positively charged spherical body is simulated. The equations of motion are written in vector and coordinate forms. A physical interpretation of the obtained mathematical results is given. Examples of simulations are given.


1987 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Rosing ◽  
H Speijer ◽  
J W P Govers-Riemslag ◽  
R F A Zwaal

It is generally thought that procoagulant phospholipid surfaces that promote the activation of vitamin K-dependent coagulation factors should have a net negative charge in order to promote calcium-dependent binding of the enzymes (FVIIa, FIXa and FXa) and substrates (prothrombin and FX) of the coagulation factor-activating complexes. Two models have been proposed to explain calcium-mediated association of vitamin K-dependent proteins with phospholipid: a) an electrostatic model, in which a positively-charged protein-calcium complex is attracted by a negatively-charged phospholipid surface and b) a chelation model in which a coordination complex is formed between calcium ions, γ-carboxyglutamic acids of the proteins and negatively-charged membrane phospholipids. To study the effect of the electrostatic potential of phospholipid vesicles on their activity in the pro-thrombinase complex the net charge of vesicles was varied by introduction of varying amounts of positively-charged stearylamine in the membrane surface. Introduction of 0-15 mole% stearylamine in phospholipid vesicles that contained 5 mole% phosphatidylseri-ne (PS) hardly affected their activity in prothrombin activation. Electrophoretic analysis showed that vesicles with > 5 mole% stearylamine had a net positive charge. The procoagulant activity of vesicles that contained phosphatidic acid, phosphatidylglyce-rol, phosphatidylinositol or phosphatidyl-glactate (PLac) as acidic phospholipid was much more effected by incorporation of stearylamine. Amounts of stearylamine that compensated the negative charge of acidic phospholipid caused considerable inhibition of the activity of the latter vesicles in prothrombin activation. The comparison of vesicles containing PS and PLac as acidic phospholipid is of special interest. PS and PLac only differ by the presence of NH+ 3-group in the serine moiety of PS. Thus, in spite of the fact that vesicles with PLac are more negatively charged than vesicles with PS, they are less procoagulant. Our results show that a) although procoagulant membranes have to contain acidic phospholipids there is no requirement for a net negative charge, b) the amino group of phosphatidylserine has an important function in the interaction of procoagulant membranes with vitamin K-dependent proteins and c) the chelation model can satisfactorily explain calcium-mediated lipid-protein association.


2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (8) ◽  
pp. 633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinyang Zhang ◽  
Simone Ciampi

The process of releasing liquid carbon dioxide from a fire extinguisher is accompanied by a strong static charging of the plastic material making up the extinguisher discharge horn. Firefighters often report an electric shock when operating CO2 extinguishers, but the origin of this electrostatic hazard is largely unknown. Here, we begin to investigate this phenomenon, and test the hypothesis of plastic samples being tribocharged on contact with rapidly flowing solid CO2. Using Faraday pail measurements, we show that non-conductive polymers gain a net static charge when brought in and out of contact with dry ice (solid CO2). These measurements of charge sign and magnitude give indirect evidence helping to place solid CO2 for the first time on the triboelectric series. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) samples acquire a negative charge when rubbed against dry ice, whereas poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), glass, and nylon surfaces become positively charged. Therefore, we suggest the position of dry ice in the triboelectric series to be close to that of materials with stable cations and unstable anions, possibly locating it between PMMA and PVC.


Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshinori Matsuda ◽  
Yoshihiro Takikawa ◽  
Koji Kakutani ◽  
Teruo Nonomura ◽  
Hideyoshi Toyoda

The present study was conducted to establish an electrostatic-based experimental system to enable new investigations of insect behavior. The instrument consists of an insulated conducting copper ring (ICR) linked to a direct current voltage generator to supply a negative charge to an ICR and a grounded aluminum pole (AP) passed vertically through the center of the horizontal ICR. An electric field was formed between the ICR and the AP. Rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae) was selected as a model insect due to its habit of climbing erect poles. The electric field produced a force that could be imposed on the insect. In fact, the negative electricity (free electrons) was forced out of the insect to polarize its body positively. Eventually, the insect was attracted to the oppositely charged ICR. The force became weaker on the lower regions of the pole; the insects sensed the weaker force with their antennae, quickly stopped climbing, and retraced their steps. These behaviors led to a pole-ascending–descending action by the insect, which was highly reproducible and precisely corresponded to the changed expansion of the electric field. Other pole-climbing insects including the cigarette beetle (Lasioderma serricorne), which was shown to adopt the same behavior.


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