In this work, numerical and experimental methods are used to characterise the effects of convective transport in an anode-supported tubular solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). To that end, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is developed to compare a full transport model to one that assumes convection is negligible. Between these two approaches, the variations of mass, temperature, and electrochemical performance are compared. Preliminary findings show that convection serves to reduce the penetration of hydrogen into the anode, and becomes more important as the thickness of the anode increases. The importance of the permeability of SOFC electrodes on the characterization of convection is also investigated. Experiments performed on Ni-YSZ anodes reveal that permeability is a function of the cell operating conditions, and increases with increasing Knudsen number. An empirical Klinkenberg relation is validated and proposed to more accurately represent the permeability of electrodes in a CFD model. This is a departure from an assumption of constant permeability that is often seen in the literature. It is found that a varying permeability has significant effects on pressure variation in the cell, although according to the electrochemical model developed in this work, variation in permeability is only found to have minor effects on the predicted performance. Furthermore, it is revealed that an electrochemical model which makes the simplifying assumption of constant overpotential is in error when predicting current and temperature variation. In this work, this is found to predict an unrealistic spatial variation of the current. It is suggested that this approach be abandoned for the solution of a transport equation for potential which couples the anodic and cathodic currents. This will lead to a more realistic prediction of temperature and performance. / Thesis (Master, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2008-11-04 13:54:35.743

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Three drainage experiments were conducted on a newly developed organic soil where three cultural methods were superimposed. Measurements of carrot yields, subsidence, water table fluctuations, subsurface drain performance, hydraulic conductivity and soil bulk density were made. Rotovating the soil produced higher carrot yields than plowing or disking during the first year. The seven-year subsidence totalled 515 mm and depended mostly on organic soil depth. Hydraulic conductivity values did not change after five years of drainage. Bulk density of the top 0.20 m increased by 71% in 6 years, whereas the values down the profile increased between 3.3 and 16.2%. / The effect of two water table depths (WTD), 0.6 and 0.9 m, in an organic soil on soil water tension, subsidence swelling and carrot yields was studied in undisturbed cores in the greenhouse. Carrot yields were reduced by the 0.9 m WTD. Subsidence with the 0.9 m WTD was more than double that of the 0.6 m WTD. Raising the water table near the surface caused the soil to swell. / Hydraulic conductivity, bulk density, fiber content and drainable porosity were measured in undisturbed organic soil profiles. Values from all four properties decreased with increasing depth.

La perméabilité vasculaire est une caractéristique cruciale de l’angiogenèse. Les acteurs principaux sont les cellules endothéliales qui la régulent en réponse à divers facteurs perméabilisant, tels que le « Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor » (VEGF). Dans le contexte pathologique du cancer, les cellules tumorales produisent de grandes quantités de VEGF qui stimulent la perméabilité, ce qui leur permet d’infiltrer le réseau vasculaire. Il est connu que la tyrosine kinase Src contrôle cette modulation de la perméabilité. Puisque notre laboratoire a préalablement démontré que la phosphatase de type récepteur (PTP) DEP-1 est impliquée dans l’activation de Src en réponse au VEGF, nous avons émis l'hypothèse que DEP-1 pourrait aussi jouer un rôle dans la perméabilité des cellules endothéliales. Grâce à des expériences de transfections d’ARN interférant, nous démontrons que DEP-1 est important pour la régulation de la phosphorylation de la VE-Cadhérine, un médiateur critique de la perméabilité. L’impact de DEP-1 sur la dissociation de jonctions intercellulaires est également démontré par microscopie à immunofluorescence de cellules endothéliales. DEP-1 est également nécessaire à l’augmentation de la perméabilité induite par VEGF in vitro. Deux résidus tyrosine retrouvés dans la queue carboxy-terminale de DEP-1 sont essentiels à l’activation de Src en réponse au VEGF. Suite à la transfection d’un plasmide encodant DEP-1 muté pour ces deux résidus, nous démontrons aussi leur implication dans la régulation de la perméabilité in vitro par DEP-1. Ces travaux permettent ainsi d’approfondir nos connaissances sur un nouveau régulateur potentiel de la perméabilité vasculaire. / Endothelial cell permeability is a crucial step of angiogenesis. The main actors behind permeability are endothelial cells who accomplish this in response to permeabilizing factors, most notably Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF). In a pathological context, migrating tumor cells produce great quantities of VEGF that stimulate an increase of vascular permeability, which allows them to intravasate into the vasculature. Src has been shown to mediate this process. Our laboratory has previously shown that the protein tyrosine phosphatase DEP-1 is involved in the regulation of VEGF-dependant activation of Src. These data thus suggested that DEP-1 might play a role in endothelial cell permeability. Here, we show through siRNA experiments that DEP-1 is important for the regulatory phosphorylation of VE-Cadherin which is critical for the induction of permeability. The impact of DEP-1 on intercellular junction dissociation is also demonstrated through immunofluorescence microscopy of endothelial cells. We further show that DEP-1 is absolutely required for the VEGF-dependent increase of permeability as illustrated by in vitro permeability assay on siRNA-transfected endothelial cells. Finally, we show that tyrosine residues in DEP-1’s carboxy-terminal tail, which are crucial for mediating Src activity in response to VEGF, are implicated in VEGF-dependant increase in permeability by transfecting plasmids coding for DEP-1 mutants of these tyrosine residues. These findings shed light on a novel potential key regulator of in vivo permeability.

Permeability is that physical property of a porous medium that controls the flow of fluids through that medium. The flow of methane and water may be induced by the excavation of a mine opening in methane-bearing strata. Methane flow into a mine opening constitutes one of the biggest hazards in the coal mining industry. It is poisonous to humans and can ignite at concentrations as low as 5 % per volume and create explosions in the presence of coal dust from mining. If the flow of methane and/or water into the mine opening becomes blocked by an impervious layer, excessive pressures may develop, particularly in the roof strata of the mined seam, which can lead to roof falls. In order to characterize the flow of methane and water into and around the openings in a mine, that was plagued by roof falls suspected of being the result of excessive fluid pressure build-up, a large scale laboratory investigation of the permeability of the roof sediments of the working coal seam in the area was undertaken. The permeability was measured under atmospheric conditions by means of a modified Ohle permeameter, and under triaxial conditions with the aid of a modified Hoek cell. The permeability of the sediments towards methane and water was measured. Nitrogen was used as a control because it is much less reactive than methane towards the sediments used in this project. It was found that the permeability decreases with increasing gas pressure, in the case of gas being the permeating fluid, and increased with increasing water pressure, in the case of water being the permeating fluid. In some instances anomalous plots of permeability versus reciprocal mean gas pressure were obtained. These were attributed to the effects of methane adsorption or the Klinkenberg effect, and a possible method to determine which of the two processes is dominant is discussed. To characterize the flow in the roof strata of the coal seam being mined, the permeability was correlated to fades type. The different fades types were numbered from 1 to 14 with increasing grain size for ease of correlation. Due to the variable nature of the sediments, even in a fades type, no single permeability could be obtained for a fades type. Instead permeability ranges were obtained for each fades type. The definition of the lower and upper limits for each range were found to be dependant on the number of tests done on samples for that fades type. Nonetheless a relationship of increasing permeability with increasing grain size was found in the coarser grained fades (facies type 8 and higher). For the fIner grained fades types the permeability was found to decrease with increase in grain size. A graph could be constructed for use in predicting possible hazardous zones by identifying the fades type and then reading the permeability range that can be expected off the graph. Due to the variable nature of the sediments, the graph is, at this time, only applicable to the areas where the samples were obtained. A permeability prediction graph for all localities would be an ideal but is beyond the scope of this project. Such a graph, and the methods discussed have a wide range of applications in the coal mining and methane gas exploitation industries. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1994.

INTRODUCTION: The blood brain barrier (BBB), formed by the brain capillary endothelial cells separating the blood from the brain. Furthermore, the brain endothelial cells also express numerous transporter systems which help regulate and maintain the brain microenvironment. The protective function of the BBB and their transporter systems under pathological disease states, including brain tumor, can be an obstacle for the entry of therapeutic agents to the brain. OBJECTIVES: The current study set out to characterize brain tumor-induced alterations of the BBB of a mouse brain tumor model. Studies were performed to address changes in BBB permeability to P-gp dependent solutes using Rhodamine (R800). Furthermore, the use of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) to modulate BBB permeability was also examined in healthy mice and tumor-bearing mice. METHODS: Tumors were induced by injecting Lewis Lung carcinoma (3LL) cells into the right hemisphere of female Balb/c mice. Changes in BBB permeability were assessed at various stages of tumor development, using both gadolinium contrast-enhanced agent (Gad) and 3H-mannitol. Functional activity of P-gp in the BBB was examined in adult mice following i.v. injection of R800 in the presence and absence of GF120918 (a P-gp inhibitor). Alterations in BBB permeability were characterized in healthy and tumor-bearing mice using a small (Gad) and large (IRdye800cw PEG) vascular permeability agent as well as R800 (changes in P-gp mediated permeability). RESULTS: Median mouse survival following 3LL injection was 17 days. The BBB was largely intact during tumor development with disruptions observed at the later stages of tumor development as indicated by Gad permeability. By inhibiting the function of P-gp with GF120918, the distribution of R800 in the brain increased by 4-fold. The enhancement effect of LPA on BBB permeability occurs within 3-6 minutes of injection with the barrier being restored back to its normal function within 20 minutes. Furthermore, an increased in brain penetration of IRdye800ce PEG and R800 were observed following LPA injection in both healthy and tumo-bearing mice. CONCLUSION: These studies provide the initial proof of concept for the use of BBB modulators including LPA and GF120918 to enhance drug delivery to the brain and the tumor sites.

Mielių (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) taikymas biologiniuose jutikliuose ar biokatalizėje ribojamas jų ląstelės sienelės struktūros, kuri apsunkina reikiamų medžiagų transportą. Todėl darbo tikslas – ištirti mielių ląstelių mechaninių savybių ir plazminės membranos bei sienelės pralaidumo pakitimus, veikiant mielių ląsteles cheminėmis medžiagomis bei mikro- ir nanosekundžių trukmės didelės galios impulsais naudojant atominių jėgų mikroskopą bei tetrafenilfosfonio katijonų elektrocheminę analizę. Nustatyta, kad ditiotreitolis (DTT) keisdamas mielių sienelių pralaidumą, pakeičia mielių ląstelių mechanines savybes. Esant didelėms deformacijoms mielių ląstelių tamprumo modulis (Young‘o) padidėjo nuo 1,00 ± 0,04 MPa nepaveiktoms iki 2,14 ± 0,1 MPa DTT paveiktoms mielėms. Tiriant impulsinio elektrinio lauko (IEL) poveikį mielių sienelės pralaidumui, impulso trukmių nuo mikrosekundžių iki nanosekundžių diapazone stebima tiesinė TPP+ absorbcijos greičio priklausomybė nuo impulso energijos. Nustatyta, kad veikiat mieles 60 ns trukmės impulsais ląstelių pralaidumas TPP+ molekulėms, nepažeidžiant mielų gyvybingumo, padidėjo iki 65 kartų lyginant su nepaveiktomis elektriniu lauku mielių ląstelėmis, t.y. 3,5 karto daugiau negu mieles paveikus 150 μs impulsais. Tyrimų rezultatai rodo, kad IEL galima didinti visos ląstelės biologinių jutiklių spartą ir atrankumą. / The application of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) in the biosensors or in the biocatalysis is limited due to the structure of their cell walls, which complicates the transport of necessary materials. The aim of this work was to investigate the mechanical properties of the yeast cells and the changes of permeability of cell plasma membrane and cell wall, after the impact of chemical compounds on the cell wall permeability and after their exposure of pulsed electric field (PEF) in the range from microsecond till nanosecond pulse duration. For analysis the atomic force microscopy and the electrochemical detection of tetraphenylphosphonium ions were used. Dithiothreitol (DTT) modifies the yeast cell wall permeability changing the mechanical properties of the cells and for high indentations Young modulus increasing from 1.00 ± 0.04 MPa for intact cells to 2.14 ± 0.1 MPa for DTT treated ones. The linear relation between TPP+ absorption rate and pulse energy was determined after investigations of PEF effect to the yeast cell permeability in the range of pulse duration from microseconds to nanoseconds. The obtained 65 time increase of yeast cell wall permeability to TPP+ molecules after the exposure of 60 ns PEF, which does not affect the cell viability, comparing with the intact yeast cells. Such permeability increment was 3.5 times higher in comparison to the yeast cells exposure to 150 µs duration PEF. The finding can be useful for the enhancement of selectivity and response of... [to full text]

The application of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) in the biosensors or in the biocatalysis is limited due to the structure of their cell walls, which complicates the transport of necessary materials. The aim of this work was to investigate the mechanical properties of the yeast cells and the changes of permeability of cell plasma membrane and cell wall, after the impact of chemical compounds on the cell wall permeability and after their exposure of pulsed electric field (PEF) in the range from microsecond till nanosecond pulse duration. For analysis the atomic force microscopy and the electrochemical detection of tetraphenylphosphonium ions were used. Dithiothreitol (DTT) modifies the yeast cell wall permeability changing the mechanical properties of the cells and for high indentations Young modulus increasing from 1.00 ± 0.04 MPa for intact cells to 2.14 ± 0.1 MPa for DTT treated ones. The linear relation between TPP+ absorption rate and pulse energy was determined after investigations of PEF effect to the yeast cell permeability in the range of pulse duration from microseconds to nanoseconds. The obtained 65 time increase of yeast cell wall permeability to TPP+ molecules after the exposure of 60 ns PEF, which does not affect the cell viability, comparing with the intact yeast cells. Such permeability increment was 3.5 times higher in comparison to the yeast cells exposure to 150 µs duration PEF. The finding can be useful for the enhancement of selectivity and response of... [to full text] / Mielių (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) taikymas biologiniuose jutikliuose ar biokatalizėje ribojamas jų ląstelės sienelės struktūros, kuri apsunkina reikiamų medžiagų transportą. Todėl darbo tikslas – ištirti mielių ląstelių mechaninių savybių ir plazminės membranos bei sienelės pralaidumo pakitimus, veikiant mielių ląsteles cheminėmis medžiagomis bei mikro- ir nanosekundžių trukmės didelės galios impulsais naudojant atominių jėgų mikroskopą bei tetrafenilfosfonio katijonų elektrocheminę analizę. Nustatyta, kad ditiotreitolis (DTT) keisdamas mielių sienelių pralaidumą, pakeičia mielių ląstelių mechanines savybes. Esant didelėms deformacijoms mielių ląstelių tamprumo modulis (Young‘o) padidėjo nuo 1,00 ± 0,04 MPa nepaveiktoms iki 2,14 ± 0,1 MPa DTT paveiktoms mielėms. Tiriant impulsinio elektrinio lauko (IEL) poveikį mielių sienelės pralaidumui, impulso trukmių nuo mikrosekundžių iki nanosekundžių diapazone stebima tiesinė TPP+ absorbcijos greičio priklausomybė nuo impulso energijos. Nustatyta, kad veikiat mieles 60 ns trukmės impulsais ląstelių pralaidumas TPP+ molekulėms, nepažeidžiant mielų gyvybingumo, padidėjo iki 65 kartų lyginant su nepaveiktomis elektriniu lauku mielių ląstelėmis, t.y. 3,5 karto daugiau negu mieles paveikus 150 μs impulsais. Tyrimų rezultatai rodo, kad IEL galima didinti visos ląstelės biologinių jutiklių spartą ir atrankumą.