Fundamental theory on multiple energy resources and related case studies.

Herein, I methodically optimize a distributed energy resource in terms of the production, management, utilization, and/or transaction of renewable energies during the deployment process. I deliver a theoretical mathematical model that allows users to visualize three critical output functions of their energy preference, including output power, energy economy, and carbon footprint. The model delivers three eigenstates derived by a power utility matrix (PUM) model. PUM transforms three-input parameters (3i) into three-output functions (3o) through 3i3o-transformation. It is ubiquitous, and its systematic characterization is discussed. Moreover, I discover a mathematical conversion relationship translating energy generation to carbon emissions. Various case-studies demonstrate the optimal energy resource utilization. Furthermore, an energy blockchain approach is employed for microgrid design, development, and carbon reduction. Finally, the authors demonstrate the energy-matter conversion relationship that improves carbon emissions for energy production, reducing the beta factor of carbon emissions to 0.22 kg/kilowatt hour for carbon peak and to zero for carbon neutrality.

Developing instrumentation to characterize thermoelectric generator modules.

Based on the law of physics, known as "Seebeck effect," a thermoelectric generator (TEG) produces electricity when the temperature differential is applied across the TEG. This article reports a precision method in characterizing TEG modules. A precision instrument is constructed to study thermoelectric conversion in terms of output power and efficiency of TEG modules. The maximum allowable TEG module size is 150 mm, and the preferred size is from 30 mm to 60 mm. During measurements, the highest hot side temperature is 500 °C and the cold side temperature can be adjusted from room temperature to 100 °C. A mechanical structure is developed to control the pressure and parallelism of the clamping force of the TEG on both its hot and cold sides. A heat flux measurement module is installed at its cold side, and the heat flux through TEGs can be measured in position. Finally, the energy conversion efficiency of TEGs is calculated from experimental data of both an output power and a heat flux.

Single molecule measurements of titin elasticity.

Titin, with a massive single chain of 3--4MDa and multiple modular motifs, spans the half-sarcomere of skeletal and cardiac muscles and serves important, multifaceted functions. In recent years, titin has become a favored subject of single molecule observations by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and laser optical trap (LOT). Here we review these single titin molecule extension studies with an emphasis on understanding their relevance to titin elasticity in muscle function. Some fundamental aspects of the methods for single titin molecule investigations, including the application of dynamic force, the elasticity models for filamentous titin motifs, the technical foundations and calibrations of AFM and LOT, and titin sample preparations are provided. A chronological review of major publications on recent single titin extension observations is presented. This is followed by summary evaluations of titin domain folding/unfolding results and of elastic properties of filamentous titin motifs. Implications of these single titin measurements for muscle physiology/pathology are discussed and forthcoming advances in single titin studies are anticipated.

Rigidity of triskelion arms and clathrin nets.

Statistical analysis is applied to a set of electron micrographic images (Kocsis, E., B. L. Trus, C. J. Steer, M. E. Bisher, and A. C. Steven. 1991. J. Struct. Biol. 107:6-14), from which quantitative measures are obtained to support the notion that the three arms of a triskelion have statistically identical properties and exhibit independent structural fluctuations. Additionally, a study of local contour fluctuations, which indicates that the elastic properties of a triskelion arm are approximately constant over the entire arm length, is used along with a small deformation statistical mechanics theory to derive an effective, average flexural rigidity for the arms. This result is used to estimate the bending energy necessary to deform a clathrin patch, and comparison is made with the deformation energy of an equivalent area of non-clathrin-coated membrane. We estimate that the rigidity of the clathrin lattice is at least comparable to that of a typical membrane. Hence, the natural curvature of a clathrin cage can stabilize, and perhaps propel, the formation of intracellular coated vesicles.

A singular state of membrane lipids at cell growth temperatures.

Cells adjust their membrane lipid composition when they adapt to grow at different temperatures. The consequences of this adjustment for membrane properties and functions are not well understood. Our report shows that the temperature dependence of the diffusion of a probe molecule in multilayers formed from total lipid extracts of E. coli has an anomalous maximum at a temperature corresponding to the growth temperature of each bacterial preparation (25, 29, and 32 degrees C). This increase in the lateral diffusion coefficient, D, is characteristic of membrane lipids in a critical state, for which large fluctuations of molecular area in the plane of the bilayer are expected. Therefore, changes in lipid composition may be due to a requirement that cells maintain their membranes in a state where molecular interactions and reaction rates are readily modulated by small, local perturbations of membrane organization.

Light scattering characterization of extruded lipid vesicles.

By modeling extruded unilamellar lipid vesicles as thin-walled ellipsoidal shells, mathematical analysis provides simple equations which relate the mean elongation and other morphological characteristics of a vesicle population to quantities readily obtained from combined static and dynamic light scattering measurements. For SOPC vesicles extruded through a 100 nm pore-size filter into a 72.9 mM NaCl solution, the inferred elongation ratio (vesicle long axis to short axis) is approximately 3.7 +/- 0.6. When these vesicles were dialyzed into hypertonic or hypotonic solutions, this elongation ratio varied from 1 (for spherical liposomes) in strongly hypotonic solutions to greater than 6 in increasingly hypertonic solutions, beyond which abrupt morphological transformations appear. These results are quantitatively consistent with a mechanism of vesicle formation by extrusion and with the expectation that vesicle volumes change to equalize internal and external osmolarity via water flow, subject to the constraint of constant bilayer area. Our analysis also provides simplified equations to assess the effects of vesicle elongation and polydispersity on liposome parameters that are commonly required to characterize vesicle preparations for diverse applications. The implications of this study for routine light scattering characterization of extruded vesicles are discussed.

Water permeability of polyunsaturated lipid membranes measured by 17O NMR.

Diffusion-controlled water permeation across bilayers of polyunsaturated phospholipids was measured by 17O nuclear magnetic resonance. In 100-nm extruded liposomes containing 50 mM MnCl2, water exchange between internal and external solutions was monitored via changes in the linewidth of the 17O water resonance of external water. Liposome size and shape were characterized by light scattering methods and determination of liposome trapped volume. At 25 degrees C, the following water permeability coefficients were determined: 18:0-18:1n-9 PC, 155 +/- 24 microns/s; 18:0-18:3n-3 PC, 330 +/- 88 microns/s; and 18:0-22:6n-3 PC, 412 +/- 91 microns/s. The addition of 1 M ethanol reduced permeability coefficients to 66 +/- 15 microns/s for 18:0-18:1n-9 PC and to 239 +/- 67 microns/s for 18:0-22:6n-3 PC. Furthermore, the addition of 50 mol% 18:1n-9-18:1n-9 PE reduced the water permeability from 122 +/- 21 microns/s for pure 18:1n-9-18:1n-9 PC to 74 +/- 15 microns/s for the mixture. The significant increase in water permeation for membranes with polyunsaturated hydrocarbon chains correlates with looser packing of polyunsaturated lipids at the lipid-water interface and the suggested deeper penetration of water into these bilayers. Ethanol may block water diffusion pathways by occupying points of water entry into bilayers at the interface. The addition of dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine increases lipid packing density and, consequently, reduces permeation rates.

Topological mechanisms involved in the formation of clathrin-coated vesicles.

By examining the basic characteristics of clathrin lattices, we discover that simple topological rules impose strict constraints on clathrin lattice transformations. These constraints require that internal bond rearrangements take place in conjunction with the addition or removal of pairs of clathrin triskelions within the interior of existing clathrin lattice patches. Similar constraints also are relevant to coated-vesicle shape changes and their budding-off from pit lattices. Via specific illustrations, successive vesicles with hexagonal-barrel and other coats are shown to grow out from the interior of a initially flat clathrin-coated pit so long as free triskelions are available from cytoplasm. Concomitantly, we present mathematical derivations of several simple and useful topological equations. These equations govern the numbers of nonhexagonal clathrin lattice facets and their variations during internal shape transformations and justify the proposed mechanisms of triskelion pair insertion and removal.