Computational Study Of Structural Properties Research Articles

Microfluidic and computational study of structural properties and resistance to flow of blood clots under arterial shear

The ability of a blood clot to modulate blood flow is determined by the clot’s resistance, which depends on its structural features. For a flow with arterial shear, we investigated the characteristic patterns relating to clot shape, size, and composition on the one hand, and its viscous resistance, intraclot axial flow velocity, and shear distributions on the other. We used microfluidic technology to measure the kinetics of platelet, thrombin, and fibrin accumulation at a thrombogenic surface coated with collagen and tissue factor (TF), the key clot-formation trigger. We subsequently utilized the obtained data to perform additional calibration and validation of a detailed computational fluid dynamics model of spatial clot growth under flow. We then ran model simulations to gain insights into the resistance of clots formed under our experimental conditions. We found that increased thrombogenic surface length and TF surface density enhanced the bulk thrombin and fibrin generation in a nonadditive, synergistic way. The height of the platelet deposition domain—and, therefore, clot occlusivity—was rather robust to thrombogenic surface length and TF density variations, but consistently increased with time. Clot viscous resistance was non-uniform and tended to be higher in the fibrin-rich, inner “core” region of the clot. Interestingly, despite intraclot structure and viscous resistance variations, intraclot flow velocity variations were minor compared to the abrupt decrease in flow velocity around the platelet deposition region. Our results shed new light on the connection between the structure of clots under arterial shear and spatiotemporal variations in their resistance to flow.

Computational study of structural properties of lithium cation complexes with carbamate-modified disiloxanes

Lithium cation solvation structures [Li(S)(n=1-4)](+) with ligands of cyclic or noncyclic carbamate-modified disiloxanes are optimized at B3LYP level of theory and compared to their corresponding simplified carbamates and to the organic carbonates ethylene carbonate (EC) and dimethyl carbonate (DMC). The electrostatic potentials (ESP) of these investigated carbonyl-containing solvents are mapped on the electron density surface. The maximum ESP is located at the C=O-oxygen, whereas the disiloxane functionality represents an unpolar residue. Natural Bond Orbitals (NBO) analysis reveals strong n(N) →π(C[double bond, length as m-dash]O) donor-acceptor interactions in carbamates which outrun dipolar properties. As a result, higher total binding energies (ΔE(B)) for solvation of Li(+) in carbamates (-148 kcal mol(-1)) are found than for carbonates (-137 kcal mol(-1)). Furthermore, the disiloxane moiety with its Si-O bond is stabilized by n(O) →σ*(Si-C) hyperconjugation that provides additional electron density to a nearby SiCH3 methyl group thus supporting an additional SiCH2-H...Li(+) coordination. The formation of all investigated solvation structures is exothermic. Owing to steric hindrance of noncyclic carbonyl-containing ligands and the bulky disiloxane functionality, the solvation structure [Li(S)3](+) is the preferred structure according to Gibbs free energy ΔG(B) results.

Hybrid density functional theory and quadratic complete basis set ab initio computational study of structural properties, vibrational spectra, and bond dissociation energy for methyl aluminum and methyl gallium

Geometries, harmonic frequencies, and homolytic and heterolytic bond dissociation energies were computed with ab initio and density functional theory (DFT) methods, the target being to determine the stability of GaCH 3 and AlCH 3, generate their infra-red spectra, and evaluate the accuracy of hybrid DFT methods for these and similar molecular systems against highly accurate ab initio methods. For this study, the ab initio methods HF, MP2, CCSD(T), and quadratic complete basis set (CBSQ) were selected. Their computational data were used for comparison with DFT (B3LYP, B3P86, and B3PW91) computed values. The stability and physical properties of the GaCH 3 and AlCH 3 organometallic complexes are discussed on the basis of these computational results.