Le Chatelier's principle states that when a system is disturbed, it will shift its equilibrium to counteract the disturbance. However for a chemical reaction in a small, confined system, the probability of observing it proceed in the opposite direction to that predicted by Le Chatelier's principle, can be significant. This work gives a molecular level proof of Le Chatelier's principle for the c...

Due to large heat load encountered in high speed flight (over Mach 5), the regenerative cooling of the engine leads to the study of the endothermic pyrolysis of the onboard hydrocarbon fuel, which acts as a coolant. However the control and regulation of such a technology implies to have a correct knowledge of the endothermic pyrolysis of the onboard hydrocarbon fuel, which motivates the develop...

We present a simple analytic model of the interaction of cold convective downwelling currents with an endothermic phase change. The model describes the ponding and lateral spreading of downflows along the phase transition interface. A simple comparison of the vertical forces on the ponding material provides a necessary condition for a downflow to penetrate the phase boundary. This condition is ...

Photosynthetic membrane sacs (thylakoids) of plants form granal stacks interconnected by non-stacked thylakoids, thereby being able to fine-tune (i) photosynthesis, (ii) photoprotection and (iii) acclimation to the environment. Growth in low light leads to the formation of large grana, which sometimes contain as many as 160 thylakoids. The net surface charge of thylakoid membranes is negative, ...

ss as: Sa t bark. Abstract Biosorption of nickel ions from aqueous solutions by modified loquat bark waste (MLB) has been investigated in a batch biosorption process. The biosorbent MLB was characterized by FTIR analysis. The extent of biosorption of Ni(II) ions was found to be dependent on solution pH, initial nickel ions concentration, biosorbent dose, contact time, and temperature. The exper...

BACKGROUND Studies suggest that ovarian follicles are cooler than their surrounding tissues. The mechanism of this remarkable phenomenon is unclear. We postulate that endothermic reactions accompany the growth-associated hydration of follicular fluid. METHODS We performed two types of experiment, using human and animal follicular fluids. In the first, saline (50 microl) was injected into foll...

This paper reports an analysis of the structure and heat stability of two different collagen gels: conventional collagen gel (neutral gel) and gel without collagen fibrils (acidic gel), previously reported. We performed differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), observations by scanning electron microscope (SEM), observations by atomic force microscope (AFM), and small angle X-ray scattering (SAX...

Endothermy is significant in vertebrate evolution because it changes the relations between animals and their environment. How endothermy has evolved in archosaurs (birds, crocodiles and dinosaurs) is controversial especially because birds do not possess brown adipose tissue, the specialized endothermic tissue of mammals. Internal heat production is facilitated by increased oxidative metabolic c...

Marsupials are born ectothermic and gradually become endothermic during pouch occupancy. In order to study the timing of this transition, we measured the metabolic rates of eight pouch-young eastern barred bandicoots (Perameles gunnii) at 25 degrees C (the thermoneutral zone of adults), at 35 degrees C (pouch temperature), and after injection with norepinephrine. From 5 to 7 wk of age, oxygen c...