Sterol synthesis from biliary squalene in the jejunal mucosa of the rat in vivo

Because bile contains substantial amounts of cholesterol precursors, e.g., squalene and differnet methyl sterols, the fate of biliary squalene was studied by incubating isolated jejunal loops of the rat in vivo with bile containing³H-squalene and¹⁴C-cholesterol. After 90 min, no radioactivity was found in plasma lipids. Closer analysis of gut epithelium revealed that both labeled compounds were preferentially taken up by the villous cells. Biliary³H-squalene was absorbed almost completely and was further cyclized to free and esterified methyl sterols and cholesterol. Whereas squalene not cyclized to sterols stayed in the mucosa, the newly synthesized sterols were transferred to lumen. The lipid patterns of gut lumen and mucosal cells were quite different, suggesting that the transfer of the newly synthesized lipid to intestinal lumen was not due to the desquamation of epithelial cells alone. The results suggest that biliary cholesterol precursors can contribute to the cholesterol production of the jejunal villous cells bypassing the rate-limiting step of the cholesterol synthesis pathway, and to the “nonexchanging” fecal neutral sterols of the rat.     

Body shaping under water stress: osmosensing and osmoregulation of solute transport in bacteria

Fluctuation of external osmolarity is one of the most common types of environmental stress factors for all kind of cells, both of prokaryotic and of eukaryotic origin. Cells try to keep their volume and/or turgor pressure constant; consequently, both a decrease (hypoosmotic stress) and an increase (hyperosmotic stress) of the solute concentration (correctly: increase or decrease in water activity) in the surrounding area, respectively, are challenges for cellular metabolism and survival. A common example from the prokaryotic world is the fate of a soil bacterium that, after a sunny day has dried out the soil (hyperosmotic stress), is suddenly exposed to a drop of distilled water from a rain cloud (hypoosmotic stress). The immediate and inevitable passive response to the sudden osmotic shift in the surroundings is fast water efflux out of the cell in the former situation and water influx in the latter. In the worst case, these responses may lead to either loss of cell turgor and plasmolysis or to cell burst. In order to overcome such drastic consequences cells have developed effective mechanisms, namely osmoadaptation, to cope with the two different types of osmotic stress. For a graded reaction to osmotic shifts, cells must be able (1) to sense stimuli related to osmotic stress, (2) to transduce corresponding signals to those systems that properly respond (3) by activating transport or enzymatic functions or (4) by changing gene expression profiles. In this review, membrane proteins involved in the cell's active response to osmotic stress are described. Molecular details of structure, function, and regulation of mechanosensitive efflux channels from various organisms, as well as of osmoregulated uptake systems are discussed.     

Overview of theories for water and solute transport in9 UF/RO membranes

The applicability of various models for the transport of water and solute in UF/RO membranes is briefly outlined.The selectivity of various solutes in ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis is further discussed.     

Flow visualization and solute transport in evaporating droplets

We have investigated the velocity field and associated particle transport in an evaporating water droplet using the tool of particle image velocimetry. Experiments were performed where single droplets containing polystyrene particles were exposed to evaporation. Our method applicable to droplets confined between two parallel surfaces differs from the conventional PIV techniques on the 3D droplets and removes many of the limitations associated with mapping of velocity field. To avoid refraction of light at the droplet surface we have studied the motion in a disc‐shaped droplet which was prepared by confining the drop between two nonwetting surfaces and its base is pinned to a wetting surface. Experiments were carried out under the conditions where Marangoni flow creates convection cells and finally leading to deposition of particles toward the pinned edge. The contact angle, height of the droplet, velocity field, and the particle concentration inside the evaporating droplet was measured and its time evolution was recorded. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 56: 1674–1683, 2010     

孔径梯度对炭纸中水传输的影响

为了进一步完善燃料电池中的水管理体系,利用不同长径比碳纤维在水中沉降速率的差异制备了具有梯度孔结构的炭纸,并研究了炭纸的孔径梯度对水传输的影响.与结构均匀的炭纸相比,具有孔径梯度的炭纸内部会形成毛细管压力差,促使水从小孔流向大孔,因此,水突破炭纸所需的压力会降低.然而,当炭纸孔径过小时,产生的毛细管阻力过大,则会抑制液...     

The importance of the steric configuration of lysophosphatidylcholine in the lymphatic transport of fat

The importance of the steric configuration of lysophosphatidylcholine in the lymphatic transport of fat was investigated in bile fistula rats. It was found that the feeding of 1-palmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine increased the lymphatic output of phosphatidyl choline and triacylglycerol, while the feeding of 3-palmitoyl-sn-glycero-1-phosphocholine had no effect. In intestinal microsomes of the bile fistula rats, it was found that the lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase was stereospecific in acylating the 1-acyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine enantiomer. The significance of these findings is briefly discussed.     

Effect of solute concentration on the diffusivity of carbon dioxide in water

When a gas diffuses in a liquid under normal conditions, and the concentration of the diffusing gas is small, the general practice is to assume a constant diffusion coefficient. Recent work on the CO₂-water system reported that the “integral” diffusion coefficient of CO₂ decreased about 30 per cent when the initial concentration of CO₂ was increased from 0 to 60 per cent of the equilibrium value.A careful study in a liquid jet has been made of the diffusion of CO₂ in water at 25°C as a function of solute concentration to test the reported results. While a slight variation of diffusivity may have been observed, it was not statistically significant; for all practical purposes the diffusion coefficient of CO₂ in water can be considered to be constant.     

Water and solute transport through cellulose acetate reverse osmosis membranes

Reverse osmosis data on two different cellulose acetate membranes using seven organic solutes of varying molecular weight have been obtained.A combined viscous-flow and frictional model is presented and used to estimate the maximum retention, the friction between solute and membrane, the distribution coefficient for solute and the pore radius.The calculated values of the maximum retention and distribution coefficient have been compared with the Ferry-Faxen equation. For the more open membrane these are in good agreement. The tighter one, however, shows a greater interaction between solute and membrane than predicted by the Faxen equation.Some data on two-solute systems are presented and shown to give variation in the retention, which can be explained from the convection term.Furthermore, for experiments with dextran the permeate shows a significant reduction in both $\text{M}$_n and $\text{M}$_t     

Lipase-catalyzed synthesis of lysophosphatidylcholine using organic cosolvent for in situ water activity control

Lysophosphatidylcholines (LPC) were synthesized from l-α-glycerophosphatidylcholine (GPC) by lipase-catalyzed esterification in a solvent-free system. Adding small amounts of a water-mimicking solvent such as dimethylformamide (DMF) to the reaction media significantly enhanced the reaction rate and the product yield. The role of solvent was studied with regard to changes in substrate solubility, the water activity of the reaction system, and the water content of the enzyme. Whereas the solubility of GPC was virtually unaffected by the addition of DMF at controlled water activity, it was considerably affected by water activity. DMF itself lowered the water activity of the system and deprived Lipozyme IM of water. The LPC production was also controlled by varying the initial water content of the enzyme. When two kinds of controls were employed together, a synergistic effect was observed and a 90% conversion was achieved. As a result, an operating window was suggested for LPC production, including water activity of Lipozyme IM and concentration of DMF as two parameters.     

Friction coefficient analysis of multicomponent solute transport through polymer membranes

A new analysis is presented of the relations between the multicomponent diffusion coefficients and the classical Kedem–Katchalsky coefficients which describe solute transport in membranes. This analysis is applied to binary and ternary systems and shows the importance of system nonideality in the calculation of solute diffusion coefficients. It is shown that the solute permeability coefficients can be calculated from independent knowledge of the nonideal thermodynamic activity coefficients and the multicomponent diffusion coefficients of the system. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Effects of dietary antioxidants on in vivo lipid peroxidation in the rat as measured by pentane production

The hypothesis that pentane is an in vivo product of lipid peroxidation was confirmed by a study of the effects of a nonbiological antioxidant on pentane production in rats fed a diet deficient in vitamin E and supplemented with 0.01% N,N′-diphenyl-p-phenylenediamine (DPPD). Seven rats were fed a vitamin E-deficient diet starting at 3 wk of age. After 5 wk, 0.01% DPPD was added to the diets of three rats (group DPPD) while the diet of the other four rats remained unchanged (group OE). Within 2 wk of the diet change, rats in group DPPD exhaled 65% less pentane than rats of the same age in group OE. After 5 wk of being fed the DPPD-supplemented diet, rats in group DPPD were again fed the basal vitamin E-deficient diet; within 3 wk, these rats produced pentane levels similar to those of rats in group OE. The effects of vitamin E depletion and repletion on in vivo lipid peroxidation in rats were also studied. Three groups of three rats each were initially fed a vitamin E-deficient diet starting at 3 wk of age. After 8, 8, and 5 wk of being fed this diet, the three groups were fed diets supplemented with 3.3 (group 0→3.3E), 11 (group 0→11 E), and 200 (group 200E) i.u. vitamin E acetate/kg diet, respectively. Another group of three rats (group 11 E) was fed a diet supplemented with 11 i.u. vitamin E/kg starting at 3 wk of age for the duration of the study. There were significant decreases in pentane production by rat groups 0→3.3E, 0→11E, and 200E within 2 wk of the change to the vitamin E-supplemented diets. After about 5 wk of being fed their respective vitamin E-supplemented diets, pentane breath levels had stabilized. Breath pentane levels were inversely proportional to the log of dietary vitamin E concentration.     

Effects of crystal growth rate and heat and mass transfer on solute distribution

The effects of crystal growth rate and heat and mass transfer on solute distribution during solidification of binary melt have been theoretically investigated on the basis of a new theory of solute distribution proposed by the present authors. The solute distribution factor f at the solid-liquid (SL) interface is in inverse proportion to the one-half power of the dimensionless growth rate U. The growth rate U is in proportion to the second power of the normalized concentration difference between the SL interface and bulk melt. A new transport factor K, which describes heat and mass transfer in melt, gives an important contribution to the crystal growth and the solute distribution at the SL interface. The transport factor is used successfully to control the solidification of melt. The flow structure in melt exerts essential influence on the solid purity.     

Water and solute transport across cellulose acetate membranes in the treatment of soybean whey by reverse osmosis

In processing full-fat soy flour to produce an acid-precipitated lipid protein concentrate, there results a by-product whey fraction which, because of its high biological oxygen demand, represents a serious disposal problem. Processing of food waste streams by reverse osmosis has received considerable attention because of its low theoretical energy requirement, since no phase change is involved. A series of statistically designed and analyzed experiments were conducted on a pilot-plant reverse osmosis unit to study the effect of the operating parameters on solute and solvent transport in cellulose acetate membranes. Sucrose and sodium chloride solutions were tested in addition to soybean whey to relate the mixed solute system in whey to that of single-solute organic and inorganic feed solutions. Water flux was shown to have an Arrhenius dependency on temperature, and some membrane compaction was observed with the more porous membrane. Concentration polarization for sucrose and sodium chloride solutions increased linearly with water flux. Solute flux for soybean whey solutions decreased with molarity and was independent of pressure, whereas solute rejection increased with temperature and pressure and was independent of molarity. Good agreement was obtained using the derived parameters A, B, and τ for soy whey in the diffusion transport model when compared to the observed experimental values.     

The effect of lysophosphatidylcholine on coronary and renal circulation in the rabbit

It has been shown that different lysophosphatidylcholines (LPC) possess relaxing properties in vascular strips. We report on the effect of intraatrial injection of LPC micelles into white New Zealand rabbits. Changes in renal and coronary flow were determined by radioactive microspheres. Coronary blood flow increased significantly following administration of LPC, while no significant changes were observed in renal blood flow, cardiac output and myocardial contractility. Coronary, renal and total vascular resistance, as well as mean arterial pressure, dropped significantly. Cardiac arrhythmia and hemolysis were not noted. The results demonstrate the vasorelaxant effect of LPCin vivo. This work was presented in part at a meeting of the Association of American Physicians in 1988.     

Studies on the in vivo metabolism of retinoic acid in the rat

A time study of the metabolism of 6,7-¹⁴C-retinoic acid after intraperitoneal injection of physiological levels (17 μg, 0.39 μc) into vitamin A deficient rats, which had been repleted with retinoic acid for two weeks up to two days before injection, resulted in a rapid metabolism to more polar compounds in the small intestine and its contents and a slower metabolism to primarily different materials in the liver and kidney. The major route of metabolism resulted in the urinary excretion of 60% of the injected dose in 24 to 27 hr. Urinary metabolites of 15-¹⁴C-retinoic acid were eluted from silicic acid at a similar concentration of solvents as the ring labeled metabolites although only 32% of the injected dose was recovered in 24 hr. Compounds chromatographically similar to the urinary metabolites were observed at various times in the liver, kidney and small intestine plus contents in addition to retinoic acid and other metabolites. The relative amounts of the metabolites in the different tissues studied varied as a function of the tissue and the time of analysis after injection. Most of the radioactivity from all tissues was extractable into methanol. A liver subcellular distribution of the radioactivity derived from the intraperitoneal injection of 650 μg of 6,7-¹⁴C-retinoic acid (25.9 μc) after 3 hr indicated a minimal level of association of radioactivity (150–250 dpm/mg protein) with all fractions and a greater association of radioactivity with the lysosomal-microsomal fraction (300–350 dpm/mg protein) and the 60–100% ammonium sulfate precipitable (750–800 dpm/mg protein) and 100% ammonium sulfate soluble fractions (422 dpm/mg protein) of the soluble supernatant.     

Effects of heat and water transport on the performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell under high current density operation

Key challenges to the acceptance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) for automobiles are the cost reduction and improvement in its power density for compactness. In order to get the solution, the further improvement in a fuel cell performance is required. In particular, under higher current density operation, water and heat transport in PEMFCs has considerable effects on the cell performance. In this study, the impact of heat and water transport on the cell performance under high current density was investigated by experimental evaluation of liquid water distribution and numerical validation. Liquid water distribution in MEA between rib and channel area is evaluated by neutron radiography. In order to neglect the effect of liquid water in gas channels and reactant species concentration distribution in the flow direction, the differential cell was used in this study. Experimental results suggested that liquid water under the channel was dramatically changed with rib/channel width. From the numerical study, it is found that the change of liquid water distribution was significantly affected by temperature distribution in MEA between rib and channel area. In addition, not only heat transport but also water transport through the membrane also significantly affected the cell performance under high current density operation.     

Role of water wettability,water transport,and adhesion in vision

Water plays an important role in life processes, although the specifics are not always known. In the past 25 years, major progress has been made in vision science by applying the principles and techniques of interface science to tear film physiology and pathophysiology, to novel surgical techniques, and to contact lens wear. In this paper, the role and structure of the preocular tear film are discussed, as well as the factors affecting its stability. This double-layered fluid film plays an important role not only in vision and the health of the exposed ocular tissues, but also in deciding contact lens tolerance and functioning. The little-known, misunderstood, and often misdiagnosed dry eye syndrome that is effected by the compromised stability of the tear film is also discussed. A newly recognized role of water as a bioabhesive in ocular tissue adhesion and its failure in terms of disjoining pressure and weak boundary layer are examined in the vision-threatening and painful adhesion failure of corneal epithelium and epithelial trauma during routine ophthalmic procedures such as tonography. The modalities to prevent undesirable contact adhesion in intraocular surgery that could result in surgical complications arc explored. Retinal tears are thought to result from the adhesion failure of the retina to the underlying tissues. A concentric double membrane model of retinal adhesion is proposed that analyzes the role of certain biophysical factors such as elasticity and hydraulic conductivity in promoting or diminishing the adhesion of retina to the choroid.