Iterative Computer Model Research Articles

Evidence of calcium phosphate supersaturation in the loop of Henle.

We have used published rat micropuncture data to construct a matrix of ion concentrations along the rat nephron. With an iterative computer model of known ion interactions, we calculated relative supersaturation ratios in all nephron segments. The collecting ducts and urine showed expected supersaturation with stone-forming salts. Fluid in the thin segment of the loop of Henle may be supersaturated with calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate under certain conditions. Because calculations cannot predict the actual course of crystallization, we made solutions to mimic, in vitro, presumed conditions in the loop of Henle. The solid phases that formed were analyzed by X-ray powder diffraction, electron microprobe, and infrared spectroscopy. All samples were identified as poorly crystallized or immature apatite. The descending limb of Henle's loop creates a unique condition as it extracts water but not sodium, bicarbonate, calcium, or phosphate, giving a calcium concentration at the bend of 3 mM, pH 7.4, and a phosphate concentration that varies from 0.8 to 48 mM, depending on parathyroid hormone and dietary phosphate. We conclude that conditions in the thin segment potentially could create a solid calcium phosphate phase, which may initiate nucleation of calcium oxalate salts in the collecting ducts, potentiating nephrolithiasis and nephrocalcinosis.

Regulation of corticotropin-releasing hormone release from human placental syncytiotrophoblasts by sodium nitroprusside

Failure of adequate trophoblastic conversion of maternal spiral arteries is associated with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). In addition to poor oxygen delivery, raised spiral artery resistance reduces placental intervillous pressure. An iterative type computer model was formed by linking an existing model of the fetus and a new nine cotyledon placental model. Simulation of compression cuffing of the spiral arteries to progressively restrict uteroplacental flow was performed, while observing various fetal and placental variables. Water moved to the fetus in the cotyledonary core villi, and to the mother in the outer villous layers. While the fetus could match villous capillary pressure to changes in intervillous pressure, net transplacental water movement was minimal, but when spiral artery resistance was increased sufficiently to cause mean intervillous pressure to fall below that which the fetus could match, a net flow to the mother appeared. That continued until the resulting fetal blood hemoconcentration produced a sufficient increase in colloid osmotic pressure to restrict further loss. All cells within the fetal-placental unit are then required to operate in an abnormal ionic environment, which may significantly affect systems such as the renin–angiotensin set-point, with implications for post-natal homeostasis such as control of adult blood pressure. Furthermore, in vivo, cells of the feto-placental unit respond to the increased intravascular osmotic pressure by production of intracellular osmolytes in order to match intracellular and vascular/interstitial osmotic pressures. This may explain the observed effects on postnatal water balance in growth restricted infants and could also provide a possible mechanism for the association of the systemic maternal complications associated with impaired placentation and reduced intervillus flow.

Antigen-Antibody Binding and Mass Transport by Convection and Diffusion to a Surface: A Two-Dimensional Computer Model of Binding and Dissociation Kinetics

The kinetics of binding and dissociation between a soluble analyte and an immobilized ligand on or near a surface are described numerically by an iterative computer model. The model is applied to a microflow chamber which is used for surface plasmon resonance measurements. It calculates diffusion perpendicular to the surface, flow parallel to the surface, and the interaction between any number of soluble and immobilized species. If the reaction between analyte and ligand is fast, binding and dissociation are influenced by the transport of the analyte to or away from the surface, in this case the measurement yields apparent association and dissociation rate constants which are not identical with the reaction rate of analyte and ligand. The transition between mass transport-controlled processes and reaction-controlled processes is described and attention is drawn to possible misinterpretations of experimental binding and dissociation curves. The measurement of rate constants higher than allowed by the conventional technique can be performed by elution of the analyte with a second analyte of low molecular weight.The kinetics of binding and dissociation between a soluble analyte and an immobilized ligand on or near a surface are described numerically by an iterative computer model. The model is applied to a microflow chamber which is used for surface plasmon resonance measurements. It calculates diffusion perpendicular to the surface, flow parallel to the surface, and the interaction between any number of soluble and immobilized species. If the reaction between analyte and ligand is fast, binding and dissociation are influenced by the transport of the analyte to or away from the surface, in this case the measurement yields apparent association and dissociation rate constants which are not identical with the reaction rate of analyte and ligand. The transition between mass transport-controlled processes and reaction-controlled processes is described and attention is drawn to possible misinterpretations of experimental binding and dissociation curves. The measurement of rate constants higher than allowed by the conventional technique can be performed by elution of the analyte with a second analyte of low molecular weight.

On the extrusion of visco‐elastic fluids subject to viscous heating

AbstractThe die‐swell occurring during the extrusion of a visco‐elastic fluid has been extensively examined in recent years, both experimentally and numerically. These investigations have been mainly confined to isothermal flows. If the material is initially relatively cool, however, viscous heating may lead to proportionally large changes in temperature and material properties, with significant effects on die‐swell. An iterative computational model is presented which describes the flow of Maxwell and Oldroyed fluids subject to the effect of temperature gradients induced by viscous heating and thermal boundary conditions. Predictions are presented for extrusion from both slit and axisymmetric dies.