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At least 559 records · Page 31

Membrane, action, and oscillatory potentials in simulated protocells

Electrical membrane potentials, oscillations, and action potentials are observed in proteinoid microspheres impaled with (3 M KCl) microelectrodes. Although effects are of greater magnitude when the vesicles contain glycerol and natural or synthetic lecithin, the results in the purely synthetic thermal protein structures are substantial, attaining 20 mV amplitude in some cases. The results add the property of electrical potential to the other known properties of proteinoid microspheres, in their role as models for protocells.

Syren, R. M.↗

Calcium Modulation of Plant Plasma Membrane-Bound Atpase Activities

The kinetic properties of barley enzyme are discussed and compared with those of other plants. Possibilities for calcium transport in the plasma membrane by proton pump and ATPase-dependent calcium pumps are explored. Topics covered include the ph phase of the enzyme; high affinity of barley for calcium; temperature dependence, activation enthalpy, and the types of ATPase catalytic sites. Attention is given to lipids which are both screened and bound by calcium. Studies show that barley has a calmodulin activated ATPase that is found in the presence of magnesium and calcium.

Caldwell, C.↗

The Plasma Membrane Calcium Pump

Three aspect of cellular calcium metabolism in animal cells was discussed including the importance of the plasma membrane in calcium homeostasis, experiments dealing with the actual mechanism of the calcium pump, and the function of the pump in relationship to the mitochondria and to the function of calmodulin in the intact cell.

Rasmussen, H.↗

Propagation of flexural and membrane waves with fluid loaded NASTRAN plate and shell elements

Modeling of flexural and membrane type waves existing in various submerged (or in vacuo) plate and/or shell finite element models that are excited with steady state type harmonic loadings proportioned to e(i omega t) is discussed. Only thin walled plates and shells are treated wherein rotary inertia and shear correction factors are not included. More specifically, the issue of determining the shell or plate mesh size needed to represent the spatial distribution of the plate or shell response is of prime importance towards successfully representing the solution to the problem at hand. To this end, a procedure is presented for establishing guide lines for determining the mesh size based on a simple test model that can be used for a variety of plate and shell configurations such as, cylindrical shells with water loading, cylindrical shells in vacuo, plates with water loading, and plates in vacuo. The procedure for doing these four cases is given, with specific numerical examples present only for the cylindrical shell case.

Kalinowski, A. J.↗

A hybrid silicon membrane spatial light modulator for optical information processing

A new two dimensional, fast, analog, electrically addressable, silicon based membrane spatial light modulator (SLM) was developed for optical information processing applications. Coherent light reflected from the mirror elements is phase modulated producing an optical Fourier transform of an analog signal input to the device. The DMD architecture and operating parameters related to this application are presented. A model is developed that describes the optical Fourier transform properties of the DMD.

Pape, D. R.↗

Improved isoparametric solid and membrane elements

Improvements that were made to the COSMIC NASTRAN elements CIHEX1 and QDMEM1 are described. These elements are isoparametric representations of solid and membrane elastic behavior. Recent papers by the authors have shown the official COSMIC versions of these elements to be inferior to those available in the MacNeal-Schwendler Corporation (MSC) version of NASTRAN in that they are overly stiff for some loadings. Modifications were made to these elements which reduce the order of integration for shear terms and, for the eight-mode solid element, add additional strain functions. The resulting element formulations give behavior similar to that of the MSC elements. The changes made in the element formulations are discussed and results of test problems are compared with results from the official COSMIC elements and with the MSC elements.

Case, W. R.↗

Rotating bubble membrane radiator for space applications

An advanced radiator concept for heat rejection in space is described which uses a two-phase working fluid to radiate waste heat. The development of advanced materials and the large surface area per mass makes the Bubble Membrane Radiator an attractive alternative to both conventional heat pipes and liquid droplet radiators for mid to high temperature applications. A system description, a discussion of design requirements, and a mass comparison with heat pipes and liquid droplet radiators are provided.

Webb, Brent J.↗

Concentration of carbon dioxide by a high-temperature electrochemical membrane cell

The performance of a molten carbonate carbon dioxide concentrator (MCCDC) cell, as a device for removal of CO2 from manned spacecraft cabins without fuel expenditure, is investigated. The test system consists of an electrochemical cell (with an Li2CO3-38 mol pct K2CO3 membrane contained in a LiAlO2 matrix), a furnace, and a flow IR analyzer for monitoring CO2. Operation of the MCCDC-driven cell was found to be suitable for the task of CO2 removal: the cell performed at extremely low CO2 partial pressures (at or above 0.1 mm Hg); cathode CO2 efficiencies of 97 percent were achieved with 0.25 CO2 inlet concentration at 19 mA sq cm, at temperatures near 873 K. Anode concentrations of up to 5.8 percent were obtained. Simple cathode and anode performance equations applied to correlate cell performance agreed well with those measured experimentally. A flow diagram for the process is included.

Kang, M. P.↗

A membrane-based subsystem for very high recoveries of spacecraft waste waters

This paper describes the continued development of a membrane-based subsystem designed to recover up to 99.5 percent of the water from various spacecraft waste waters. Specifically discussed are: (1) the design and fabrication of an energy-efficient reverse-osmosis (RO) breadboard subsystem; (2) data showing the performance of this subsystem when operated on a synthetic wash-water solution - including the results of a 92-day test; and (3) the results of pasteurization studies, including the design and operation of an in-line pasteurizer. Also included in this paper is a discussion of the design and performance of a second RO stage. This second stage results in higher-purity product water at a minimal energy requirement and provides a substantial redundancy factor to this subsystem.

Ray, Roderick J.↗

Method of forming dynamic membrane on stainless steel support

A suitable member formed from sintered, powdered, stainless steel is contacted with a nitrate solution of a soluble alkali metal nitrate and a metal such as zirconium in a pH range and for a time sufficient to effect the formation of a membrane of zirconium oxide preferably including an organic polymeric material such as polyacrylic acid.

Gaddis, Joseph L.↗

The purification and subunit structure of a membrane-bound ATPase from the Archaebacterium Halobacterium saccharovorum

The procedure for the isolation and 70-fold purification of membrane-bound cold-sensitive ATPase from Halobacterium saccharovorum is described. Upon exposure to cold, the enzyme dissociates into two major subunits, I (87 kDa) and II (60 kDa), and two minor subunits, III (29 kDa) and IV (20 kDa). The stoichiometry of the enzyme is proposed to be I2.II2.III.IV; the molecular mass of such a complex would be 343 kDa, which is in good agreement with the value of 350 kDa obtained by gel filtration. The structure of the ATPase from H. saccharovorum makes it unlike any previously described ATPase.

Hochstein, Lawrence I.↗

Thermoelectric integrated membrane evaporation subsystem testing

An advanced preprototype Thermoelectric Integrated Membrane Evaporation Subsystem (TIMES) has been developed to provide high quality water recovery from various types of wastewater on extended duration space flights. The subsystem has undergone extensive wastewater processing testing, in order to evaluate its potential as an essential part of the Space Station Water Reclamation System. A discussion of the operating performance of the TIMES is presented in this paper, with special attention given to the water quality attained for a number of simulated Space Station wastewater feedstocks.

Dehner, Gerard F.↗

Oxygen separation from air using zirconia solid electrolyte membranes

Air separation using a zirconia solid electrolyte membrane is a possible alternative source of oxygen. The process of zirconia oxygen separation is reviewed, and an oxygen plant concept using such separation is described. Potential cell designs, stack designs, and testing procedures are examined. Fabrication of the materials used in a zirconia module as well as distribution plate design and fabrication are examined.

Suitor, J. W.↗

Liquid-membrane coupling response of submersible electrostatic acoustic transducer

A mathematical model was developed for the liquid-membrane coupling response of the submersible electrostatic acoustic transducer (ESAT) described by Cantrell et al. (1979). The model accounts for the ESAT's rolloff response and predicts the essential features of the ESAT frequency response. Model predictions were found to agree well with measurements taken over the frequency range from 1 to 11 MHz.

Cantrell, John H.↗

Continuous electron stimulated desorption using a ZrO2/Ag permeation membrane

During the development of an atomic oxygen beam generator for laboratory simulation of the atmospheric conditions in low earth orbit, a new technique for performing electron stimulated desorption (ESD) in a continuous manner has been developed. In this technique, oxygen permeates through an Ag membrane at elevated temperature thereby providing a continuous supply of oxygen atoms to the 1000-A ZrO2 coating at the vacuum interface. ESD then results in a large peak of neutral O2 molecules which ultimately decay into steady-state desorption. The ESD signal is linear with respect to primary beam flux (0.035 O2 molecules per electron at a primary beam energy of 1 keV) but nonlinear with respect to primary beam energy.

Outlaw, R. A.↗

Development of a two-stage membrane-based wash-water reclamation subsystem

A two-stage membrane-based subsystem was designed and constructed to enable the recycle of wash waters generated in space. The first stage is a fouling-resistant tube-side-feed hollow-fiber ultrafiltration module, and the second stage is a spiral-wound reverse-osmosis module. Throughout long-term tests, the subsystem consistently produced high-quality permeate, processing actual wash water to 95 percent recovery.

Mccray, S. B.↗

Electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing of whole cell and membrane proteins from the extremely halophilic archaebacteria

The subunits from two purified halobacterial membrane enzymes (ATPase and nitrate reductase) behaved differently with respect to isoelectric focusing, silver staining and interaction with ampholytes. Differential behavior was also observed in whole cell proteins from Halobacterium saccharovorum regarding resolution in two-dimensional gels and silver staining. It is proposed that these differences reflect the existence of two classes of halobacterial proteins.

Stan-Lotter, Helga↗