The membrane raft hypothesis postulates the existence of lipid bilayer membrane heterogeneities, or domains, supposed to be important for cellular function, including lateral sorting, signaling, and trafficking. Characterization of membrane lipid heterogeneities in live cells has been challenging in part because inhomogeneity has not usually been definable by optical microscopy. Model membrane ...

Since evidence first appeared for 'detergent-resistant membranes' in the early to mid-1990s, cell biologists from a wide spectrum of biological sciences have been intrigued by the functional relevance of this indication of membrane heterogeneity, commonly referred to as 'lipid rafts'. Model membrane studies revealed that these lipid rafts are related to the more ordered liquid phase that forms ...

the term 'membrane bioreactor' expresses a combination of activated sludge and membrane separation processes. the need to processes like sedimentation and disinfection used in common methods is eliminated through mbr systems in a way that membranes are placed into or out of an aeration tank and the vacuumed wastewater created by the suction pump is pulled up from inside the membranes and leaves...