Effects of High Magnetic Fields on the Diffusion of Biologically Active Molecules

The diffusion of biologically active molecules is a ubiquitous process, controlling many mechanisms and the characteristic time scales for pivotal processes in living cells. Here, we show how a high static magnetic field (MF) affects the diffusion of paramagnetic and diamagnetic species including oxygen, hemoglobin, and drugs. We derive and solve the equation describing diffusion of such biologically active molecules in the presence of an MF as well as reveal the underlying mechanism of the MF’s effect on diffusion. We found that a high MF accelerates diffusion of diamagnetic species while slowing the diffusion of paramagnetic molecules in cell cytoplasm. When applied to oxygen and hemoglobin diffusion in red blood cells, our results suggest that an MF may significantly alter the gas exchange in an erythrocyte and cause swelling. Our prediction that the diffusion rate and characteristic time can be controlled by an MF opens new avenues for experimental studies foreseeing numerous biomedical applications.

The study of a consistent pattern of heat and mass transfer at drying fiber-forming polymers

In this article, the consistent pattern of mass transfer in the process of drying granular polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycaproamide (PCA), and polyamide 66 (PA 66) were studied. A modified quasi-stationary method was used to analyze the data. The characteristic time and the hydrodynamic intensity index were obtained based on experimental data. Some features of water sorption and desorption by fiber-forming polymers were studied.

Multi-Dimensional Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Methods in the Inhomogeneous Magnetic Field

<p>This thesis introduces new NMR techniques which use the inhomogeneous internal magnetic fields present in the pore space of a porous medium exposed to an external magnetic field to obtain information about the pore size and heterogeneities of the the sample. Typically internal field inhomogeneities are regarded as unwanted due to their effect on various material properties such as relaxation and diffusion. However, in the experiments presented here, we choose samples specifically for their inhomogeneous internal fields and use multi-dimensional NMR methods and simulations to obtain our pore space and heterogeneity information. We first describe software developed to specifically simulate the internal magnetic field and diffusion through the pore space of a simple sphere pack system. This software generates a sphere pack and calculates the internal magnetic field generated by z-aligned magnetic dipoles placed at the center of each sphere. The internal magnetic field gradient is also calculated in the pore space. From there, a random walk method is developed and a realistic reflection off a sphere is introduced. We work through the development of this software and the mathematics behind the algorithms used. This simulation is used in all subsequent experimental chapters. We then use a two-dimensional exchange experiment to separate the susceptibility induced line broadening with the broadening caused by diffusion through the inhomogeneous field. We observe off-diagonal line broadening as the mixing time increases. We attempt to quantify this off-diagonal growth by selecting points on either side of the off-diagonal maximum and plotting their average as a function of mixing time. A biexponential fit to the average intensities with respect to mixing time results in a characteristic time and from that a characteristic length as a fraction of bead diameter. This experiment is simulated and a biexponential growth is also observed in the simulated off-diagonal with characteristic lengths comparable to experiment. To obtain a correlation length directly from experiment and not deduce one from a characteristic time, we add a spatial dimension to our exchange experiment in the form of a propagator dimension. This dimension allows us to select 2D spectra based on their Z-displacement. We observe off-diagonal growth due to both an increase in Z-displacement and an increase in mixing time. We move away from the biexponential fit and move to a relationship based on mixing time, effective diffusion, and Z-displacement to directly calculate a characteristic length. We see these same traits in the simulated data which agrees well with experiment. Lastly, we move away from exchange experiments and move to correlating the transverse relaxation time with the internal field offset. We find that there is correlation at large magnetic field offsets and small T2 times which appear to be indicative of sample heterogeneities. To confirm this we use a highly heterogeneous rock core sample which increases the correlations seen at the previous offsets and times. This experiment is more qualitative than the previous two as we do not have a concrete value for the heterogeneity of our samples. The simulation used throughout the thesis, while showing a definite correlation between field offset and T2 relaxation, is unable to accurately simulate the experiment and requires more development.</p>

Multi-Dimensional Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Methods in the Inhomogeneous Magnetic Field

<p>This thesis introduces new NMR techniques which use the inhomogeneous internal magnetic fields present in the pore space of a porous medium exposed to an external magnetic field to obtain information about the pore size and heterogeneities of the the sample. Typically internal field inhomogeneities are regarded as unwanted due to their effect on various material properties such as relaxation and diffusion. However, in the experiments presented here, we choose samples specifically for their inhomogeneous internal fields and use multi-dimensional NMR methods and simulations to obtain our pore space and heterogeneity information. We first describe software developed to specifically simulate the internal magnetic field and diffusion through the pore space of a simple sphere pack system. This software generates a sphere pack and calculates the internal magnetic field generated by z-aligned magnetic dipoles placed at the center of each sphere. The internal magnetic field gradient is also calculated in the pore space. From there, a random walk method is developed and a realistic reflection off a sphere is introduced. We work through the development of this software and the mathematics behind the algorithms used. This simulation is used in all subsequent experimental chapters. We then use a two-dimensional exchange experiment to separate the susceptibility induced line broadening with the broadening caused by diffusion through the inhomogeneous field. We observe off-diagonal line broadening as the mixing time increases. We attempt to quantify this off-diagonal growth by selecting points on either side of the off-diagonal maximum and plotting their average as a function of mixing time. A biexponential fit to the average intensities with respect to mixing time results in a characteristic time and from that a characteristic length as a fraction of bead diameter. This experiment is simulated and a biexponential growth is also observed in the simulated off-diagonal with characteristic lengths comparable to experiment. To obtain a correlation length directly from experiment and not deduce one from a characteristic time, we add a spatial dimension to our exchange experiment in the form of a propagator dimension. This dimension allows us to select 2D spectra based on their Z-displacement. We observe off-diagonal growth due to both an increase in Z-displacement and an increase in mixing time. We move away from the biexponential fit and move to a relationship based on mixing time, effective diffusion, and Z-displacement to directly calculate a characteristic length. We see these same traits in the simulated data which agrees well with experiment. Lastly, we move away from exchange experiments and move to correlating the transverse relaxation time with the internal field offset. We find that there is correlation at large magnetic field offsets and small T2 times which appear to be indicative of sample heterogeneities. To confirm this we use a highly heterogeneous rock core sample which increases the correlations seen at the previous offsets and times. This experiment is more qualitative than the previous two as we do not have a concrete value for the heterogeneity of our samples. The simulation used throughout the thesis, while showing a definite correlation between field offset and T2 relaxation, is unable to accurately simulate the experiment and requires more development.</p>

Seeing the unseen—the iceberg phenomenon in the first months of the COVID19 pandemic

We analyze the evolution of the COVID19 infections in the first months of the pandemics and show that the basic compartmental SIR model cannot explain the data, some characteristic time series being by more than an order of magnitude different from the fit function over significant parts of the documented time interval. To correct this large discrepancy, we amend the SIR model by assuming that there is a relatively large population that is infected but was not tested and confirmed. This assumption qualitatively changes the fitting possibilities of the model and, despite its simplicity, in most cases the time series can be well reproduced. The observed dynamic is only due to the transitions between two infected compartments, which are the unconfirmed infected and the confirmed infected, and the rate of closing the cases (by recovery or death) in the confirmed infected compartment. We also discuss some relevant extensions of this model, to improve the interpretation and the fitting of the data. These findings qualitatively and quantitatively evidences the “iceberg phenomenon” in epistemology.

Analysis of the system of current stabilization of the radiation power of glow-discharge lasers

The article analyzes the transfer function of the discharge gaps of glow discharge lasers. The transfer function in this case shows how a change in the discharge current leads to a change in the concentration of electrons in the positive column, which are an energy source for the excitation of laser levels. Based on the analysis, the characteristic time constants of the transfer function were calculated for the main types of glow discharge lasers.

Low-order modelling of the wake dynamics of an Ahmed body

We investigate the large-scale signature of the random switches between two mirrored turbulent wake states of flat-backed bodies. A direct numerical simulation (DNS) of the flow around an Ahmed body at a Reynolds number ( $Re$ ) of 10 000 is considered. Using proper orthogonal decomposition (POD), we identify the most energetic modes of the velocity field and build a low-dimensional model based on the first six fluctuating velocity modes capturing the characteristics of the flow dynamics during and between switches. In the absence of noise, the model produces random switches with characteristic time scales in agreement with the simulation and experiments. This chaotic model suggests that random switches are triggered by the increase of the vortex shedding activity. However, the addition of noise results in a better agreement in the temporal spectra of the coefficients between the model and the simulation.

Analysis of solar cooker with thermal storage for remote hilly areas: determination of heating and cooling characteristic time

Solar cooking finds a major application in rural areas of Uttarakhand, India, yet its utilization is still limited due to certain limitation such as intermittent nature of solar radiations. This drawback limits solar cooker in becoming a viable alternate solution of LPG and other pollution causing resources such as wood. In order to cater this problem a numerical analysis of box type solar cooker with storage is carried out. The energy stored in the storage material will keep the cooker warm up to the time when food is consumed. Charging and discharging time analysis is performed in with an aim to understand the effect of storage on solar cooker. Heating and cooling characteristic time are being evaluated and analysed with storage. Thermal performance of box type solar cooker is measured in terms of figures of merit according to BIS standards. The effect of storage has also been analysed in terms of charging and discharging time and first figure of merit of box type solar cooker.it has been observed that during discharging the heat is stored for more duration as compared to the charging time as discharge time is approx. 4-5 hours while charging time for the same amount of insolation is around 3-4 hours.