Kaliumkanäle ermöglichen es, den geladenen Kaliumionen selektiv die hydrophobe Lipidphase von Zellmembranen zu passieren. Sie operieren in ihren Funktionen als Antagonisten von Natrium- und Kalziumkanälen, um die elektrische Erregbarkeit von Zellen zu kontrollieren. Im ZNS der Vertebraten existiert eine Vielzahl verschiedener Kaliumkanäle, welche die zeitliche Struktur von Aktionspotentialen festlegen. Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Dissertation wurden bisher unbekannte Kanäle aus den Familien der spannungsgesteuerten Kv1-/Kv3- und der kalziumsensitiven SK-/BK-Kaliumkanäle aus dem ZNS der Regenbogenforelle kloniert. Diese wurden durch heterologe Expression in Insekten- und Säugerzellen einer biophysikalischen und pharmakologischen Charakterisierung zugeführt. Gegen fünf der bekannten Kanäle wurden spezifische Antikörper hergestellt. Mit Hilfe immunhistochemischen und PCR-Techniken konnte die gewebetypische und entwicklungsspezifische Expression der Kaliumkanäle untersucht werden. Mit den in dieser Arbeit präsentierten Daten konnte die Grundlage für eine differentielle Betrachtung der funktionellen Bedeutung und des Expressionsmusters der entsprechenden Kaliumkanäle im nativen Kontext gelegt werden.

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<p>Ferrofluids are remarkable materials composed of magnetic nanoparticles dispersed in a carrier liquid. These suspensions exhibit fluid-like behavior in the absence of a magnetic field, but when exposed to a magnetic field, they can respond and deform into a variety of patterns. This responsive behavior of ferrofluids makes them an excellent material for applications such as drug delivery for targeted therapies and soft robots. In this thesis, we will focus on the interfacial dynamics of ferrofluids in Hele-Shaw cells. The three major objectives of this thesis are: understanding the pattern evolution, unraveling the underlying nonlinear dynamics, and ultimately achieving passive control of ferrofluid interfaces. First, we introduce a novel static magnetic field setup, under which a confined circular ferrofluid droplet will deform and spin steadily like a `gear’, driven by interfacial traveling waves. This study combines sharp-interface numerical simulations with weakly nonlinear theory to explain the wave propagation. Then, to better understand these interfacial traveling waves, we derive a long-wave equation for a ferrofluid thin film subject to an angled magnetic field. Interestingly, the long-wave equation derived, which is a new type of generalized Kuramoto--Sivashinsky equation (KSE), exhibits nonlinear periodic waves as dissipative solitons and reveals fascinating issues about linearly unstable but nonlinearly stable structures, such as transitions between different nonlinear periodic wave states. Next, inspired by the low-dimensional property of the KSE, we simplify the original 2D nonlocal droplet problem using the center manifold method, reducing the shape evolution to an amplitude equation (a single local ODE). We show that the formation of the rotating `gear’ arises from a Hopf bifurcation, which further inspires our work on time-dependent control. By introducing a slowly time-varying magnetic field, we propose strategies to effectively control a ferrofluid droplet's evolution into a targeted shape at a targeted time. The final chapter of this thesis concerns our ongoing research into the interfacial dynamics under the influence of a fast time-varying and rotating magnetic field, which induces a nonsymmetric viscous stress tensor in the ferrofluid, requiring the balance of the angular momentum equation. As a consequence, wave propagation on a ferrofluid interface can be now triggered by magnetic torque. A new thin-film long-wave equation is consistently derived taking magnetic torque into account.</p>

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No description available.

Reactive flow in porous media, leading to solid precipitation and deposition, is a fundamental process with widespread implications across various fields, such as carbonate mineralization during CO2 sequestration process. Despite the extensive research on the precipitation flow, the physical mechanisms behind the coupling between the hydrodynamics and reaction are less well-understood. This thesis investigates the complex interplay between fluid flow and a chemical reaction (A+B=C) that triggers precipitation and deposition in a Hele-Shaw cell with a gap thickness much smaller than the ones used in the past. We find that both electrostatic and hydrodynamic forces influence the onset of fingering. The results reveal that precipitation-induced fingering plays a significant role in altering mixing dynamics and precipitation rate. A model is developed, incorporating a more realistic rheology model and a first-order deposition term into an advection-diffusion-reaction framework, to comprehensively analyze the impact of critical parameters such as injection rate and initial reactant concentrations on hydrodynamic instability resulting from precipitation and deposition. Validation against experimental data demonstrates the model's capability to capture diverse precipitation patterns observed under varying experimental conditions accurately. Additionally, the results highlight the crucial role of the deposition term in accurately predicting the temporal evolution of total solid content observed in the experiments. Furthermore, the thesis explores the influence of porous media heterogeneity on calcium carbonate mineralization dynamics in a 2D radial porous system. Using a flow cell with a bimodal pore throat size distribution, the study investigates the temporal evolution of the mixing front, total precipitation amount, and spatial distribution of deposited particles under different injection rates and reactant concentrations. Findings reveal the formation of stable mixing fronts at higher injection rates, driven by the creation of large aggregates, and demonstrate enhanced precipitation in porous media dominated by advection. Conversely, in diffusion-dominated conditions, the precipitation rate transitions to scaling behaviors observed in a homogeneous media. The experimental observations elucidate the deposition of large aggregates in low-permeability regions, leading to significant alterations in cell permeability and porosity. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The word "context" originates in "contextus", which is Latin for "weaving." An architectural question arises as to how a building can so integrate itself with a community that is it truly woven into the urban fabric. The Shaw Neighborhood branch of the District of Columbia Public Library system closed in 2004. The building at the intersection of 7th Street and Rhode Island Avenue could no longer serve the needs of the community, and shall be replaced by a new facility on the same site. What are the needs of the community that should be addressed, and by what methods? As a civic building, what role will the new library play beyond that of a place to find books? What are the contexts that the new architecture will confront, and how does this building transcend the contexts of the present to endure as something equally valuable in the future? / Master of Architecture

La propagation d'un front de réaction-diffusion est étudiée expérimentalement dans un écoulement cellulaire multiéchelle. Le front est produit par réaction autocatalytique en solution. L'écoulement est réalisé en géométrie de Hele-Shaw par électroconvection, son caractère multiéchelle étant réalisé par l'action combinée de deux nappes d'aimants d'échelles différentes. La géométrie du front et sa vitesse moyenne de propagation sont déterminées pour une large gamme d'intensité des vortex de chaque échelle. Elles sont confortées par une simulation numérique de l'avancée du domaine brulé dans le domaine frais. L'effet de la nature multiéchelle de l'écoulement sur la vitesse moyenne du front est compris par une méthode de renormalisation dont la validation est fournie par l'obtention d'un courbe maitresse pour l'ensemble des données. / The propagation of a reaction-diffusion front is experimentally studied in a multi-scale cellular flow. The front is produced by an autocatalytic chemical reaction in an aqueous solution. The flow is generated by electroconvection and its multi-scale nature is induced by overlaying magnets of different scales. This enables an independent tune of the flow intensity at each scale. The geometry and the mean velocity of the front have been determined over a large range of scale intensities. These features are confirmed by a numerical simulation based on a burnt and fresh domain dynamics, the burnt domain expanding across the fresh one. The effect of the multi-scale nature of the flow on the mean front velocity is recovered by a renormalisation method validated by a collapse of the data onto a single curve.

L'étude décrite dans cette thèse porte sur l'injection ponctuelle d'une solution saline au sein d'une cellule dite de Hele-Shaw, afin de caractériser le comportement dispersif d'un polluant en milieu poreux. L'approche expérimentale employée est basée sur l'implémentation originale d'un dispositif de Fluorescence Induite par Laser (LIF) dans la cellule. La mise en place d'un protocole de mesure efficace permet de mener une analyse quantitative des résultats expérimentaux. En outre, en appliquant la méthode des moments, il est possible de caractériser avec précision le comportement dispersif de la zone de mélange de la solution injectée. Parallèlement aux expériences, à l'aide du code numérique FRIPE, les injections ont été simulées numériquement. L'analyse quantitative a été appliquée à ces dernières. Une comparaison poussée des résultats expérimentaux et numériques a donc été effectuée, du point de vue qualitatif mais aussi sur l'expression de la dispersion du panache de la zone de mélange de la solution / The study described in this thesis is about punctual injection of a saline solution inside a "Hele-Shaw cell" in order to characterize the dispersive behavior of a pollutant in porous media. The chosen experimental approach is based on the setup of an original Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) in the Hele-Shaw cell. The setting of the experimental apparatus allows quantitative data reduction of the experimental results. Moreover the "Moments Method" studied precisely the solution mixing dispersive behavior. Using the numerical code FRIPE the same injections have been simulated. The same quantitative data reductions have been applied to the numerical results. This led to an extensive comparison of the numerical and the experimental results, qualitatively but also of the dispersion in the mixing area of the injected solution