Temperature-induced Variation Research Articles

Temperature effect on gas adsorption capacity in different sized pores of coal: Experiment and numerical modeling

Accurate methane gas adsorption capacity estimation is key for the coalbed methane (CBM) reservoir gas-in-place assessment. As in situ, the reservoir pressure and temperature vary from one location to another. The temperature induced gas sorption capacity evaluation is important for the CBM and mining industry. In this study, grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulation was used to investigate temperature effect on methane adsorption capacity and adsorbed methane density for different sized pores. Methane adsorption experiments were performed to show realistic temperature effect on methane adsorption capacity and the experimental data were used directly to validate the numerical model. The pore structure of coal was characterized by high-pressure mercury injection, low-pressure N2 gas adsorption, low-pressure CO2 gas adsorption. The simulation results revealed that, first, temperature influence on methane adsorption was more obvious in smaller pores than that in larger pores. Based on the characteristics of the temperature influence on methane adsorption, pores can be divided into three categories: 0.7–0.9 nm pores, 1.0–1.3 nm pores and pores larger than 1.4 nm. In the 0.7–0.9 nm group, methane adsorption capacity decreased by approximately 19% at 3 MPa from 20 °C to 100 °C. In contrast, in the 1.0–1.3 nm pores and pores larger than 1.4 nm, methane adsorption capacity decreased by approximately 32% and 45%. Second, in 0.7 nm and 1.0 nm pores, methane adsorption capacity decreased linearly with an increase in temperature. In 4.0 nm pores methane adsorption capacity exhibited a negative exponential decrease with increasing temperature at low pressure (<3 MPa). Third, when the pore size was the same, the temperature effect was more obvious at a lower pressure than that at a higher pressure. The experimental results indicated that methane adsorption capacity in the coal sample decreased linearly with temperature increasing, and temperature effect on reducing methane adsorption capacity was greater at low pressure. These experimental results were consistent with the simulation results. Based on simulation and experimental data, it was obvious that temperature-induced gas adsorption capacity variation was both pore size dependent and pressure dependent.

Optical radiative properties of ablating polymers exposed to high-power arc plasmas

The radiative properties of polymers exposed to high-intensity radiation are of importance for the numerical simulation of arc-induced ablation. The paper investigates the optical properties of polymethylmethacrylate PMMA and polyamide PA6 films exposed to high-power arc plasmas, which can cause ablation of the material. A four-flux radiative approximation is first used to estimate absorption and scattering coefficients of the tested materials in the ultraviolet (UV) and in the visible (VIS) ranges from spectrophotometric measurements. The temperature-induced variation of the collimated transmissivity of the polymers is also measured from room temperature to the glass temperature of PMMA and the melting temperature of PA6. Furthermore, band-averaged absorption and scattering coefficients of non-ablating and ablating polymers are estimated from the UV to the short-wavelength infrared (SWIR), covering the range of interest for the simulation of arc-induced ablation. These estimates are obtained from collimated transmissivities measured with an additional in situ photometric system that uses a high-power, transient arc plasma to both illuminate the samples and to induce ablation. It is shown that the increase in the bulk temperature of PA6 leads to a strong reversible increase in collimated transmissivity, significantly reducing the absorption and scattering coefficients of the material. A weaker but opposite effect of temperature on the optical properties is found in PMMA. As a consequence, it is suggested that the absorption coefficient of polymers used for arc-induced ablation estimates should not be taken directly from direct collimated transmissivity measurements at room temperature. The band-averaged radiation measurements also show that the layer of products released by ablation of PMMA produces scattering radiation losses mainly in the VIS–SWIR ranges, which are only a small fraction of the total incident arc radiation. In a similar manner, the ablation layer of PA6 leads to weak absorption radiation losses, although mainly in the UV range.

Improving the spectral measurement accuracy based on temperature distribution and spectra-temperature relationship

Temperature is usually considered as a fluctuation in near-infrared spectral measurement. Chemometric methods were extensively studied to correct the effect of temperature variations. However, temperature can be considered as a constructive parameter that provides detailed chemical information when systematically changed during the measurement. Our group has researched the relationship between temperature-induced spectral variation (TSVC) and normalized squared temperature. In this study, we focused on the influence of temperature distribution in calibration set. Multi-temperature calibration set selection (MTCS) method was proposed to improve the prediction accuracy by considering the temperature distribution of calibration samples. Furthermore, double-temperature calibration set selection (DTCS) method was proposed based on MTCS method and the relationship between TSVC and normalized squared temperature. We compare the prediction performance of PLS models based on random sampling method and proposed methods. The results from experimental studies showed that the prediction performance was improved by using proposed methods. Therefore, MTCS method and DTCS method will be the alternative methods to improve prediction accuracy in near-infrared spectral measurement.

Effects of Temperature on the Meiotic Recombination Landscape of the Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

ABSTRACTAlthough meiosis in warm-blooded organisms takes place in a narrow temperature range, meiosis in many organisms occurs over a wide variety of temperatures. We analyzed the properties of meiosis in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae in cells sporulated at 14°C, 30°C, or 37°C. Using comparative-genomic-hybridization microarrays, we examined the distribution of Spo11-generated meiosis-specific double-stranded DNA breaks throughout the genome. Although there were between 300 and 400 regions of the genome with high levels of recombination (hot spots) observed at each temperature, only about 20% of these hot spots were found to have occurred independently of the temperature. In S. cerevisiae, regions near the telomeres and centromeres tend to have low levels of meiotic recombination. This tendency was observed in cells sporulated at 14°C and 30°C, but not at 37°C. Thus, the temperature of sporulation in yeast affects some global property of chromosome structure relevant to meiotic recombination. Using single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-specific whole-genome microarrays, we also examined crossovers and their associated gene conversion events as well as gene conversion events that were unassociated with crossovers in all four spores of tetrads obtained by sporulation of diploids at 14°C, 30°C, or 37°C. Although tetrads from cells sporulated at 30°C had slightly (20%) more crossovers than those derived from cells sporulated at the other two temperatures, spore viability was good at all three temperatures. Thus, despite temperature-induced variation in the genetic maps, yeast cells produce viable haploid products at a wide variety of sporulation temperatures.

Temperature‐dependence improvement for a MEMS gyroscope using triangular‐electrode based capacitive detection method

This work presents analysis and test results on temperature-dependence improvement for a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) gyroscope based on triangular-electrode based (TEB) capacitive detection method. To reduce the effects of temperature variations on MEMS gyroscopes, TEB capacitive detection method is applied because the extracted amplitude and phase are robust to system parameter fluctuations. In the first place, analytical results for the scale factors and zero-rate outputs, respectively, utilising linear electromechanical amplitude modulation (linear-EAM) method and TEB method are derived. Then experimental results of the temperature characteristics for gyroscopes are conducted. The temperature coefficient of scale factor over the temperature range of −10 to 60°C is reduced from −8845 ppm/°C for linear-EAM method to 1660 ppm/°C for TEB method with an improvement factor of 5.3. Moreover, the temperature-induced zero-rate output variation is decreased from −68.05°/s for linear-EAM method to −29.09°/s for TEB method with an improvement factor of 2.3. Experimental results of temperature-dependence improvement agree well with the theoretical analysis. In the end, Allan variance analysis demonstrates a bias instability of 2.85°/h, and an ARW (angle random walk) of 0.16°/√h with a vacuum-packaged gyroscope using TEB method, which is significantly better than the bias instability 5.47°/h and ARW 0.22°/√h tested using linear-EAM method.

Determination of temperatures of aqueous-based samples directly from near infrared spectra

The temperature sensitivity of underlying water absorption bands can lead to baseline artifacts or apparent spectral band shifts in near infrared spectra and can negatively impact multivariate calibration models used in quantitative analyses. To address this issue, efforts can be made to suppress the temperature-induced spectral variation or knowledge of the temperature can be used to adjust the calibration. To facilitate the latter approach, we explored the ability to estimate the aqueous temperature of the sample directly from the combination region of the near infrared spectrum. This temperature modeling strategy addresses applications in which it is difficult to obtain an accurate sample temperature with a conventional measurement probe. Temperature models were developed by use of partial least-squares regression combined with the discrete wavelet transform. Models were constructed from the 5000 to 4000 cm−1 region of near infrared spectra for pH 7.4 buffer solutions over the temperature range of 20.0–40.5℃. The long-term predictive ability of the models was assessed by use of 13 sets of prediction spectra collected over the course of 13 months, yielding values of the root mean square error of prediction ranging from 0.19 to 0.36℃. In addition, laboratory-prepared solutions of glucose, mixture solutions of glucose, lactate, urea in buffer, and bovine plasma were used to assess the predictive ability of the temperature models in increasingly complex matrixes. The effects of pH and buffer molarity were also studied. While increasing the complexity of the spectral background resulted in increases in root mean square error of prediction (0.33–1.01℃), retuning the models to incorporate the modified spectral backgrounds lowered the resulting root mean square error of prediction values to the range of 0.3℃. This work demonstrates the practical utility of spectral-based temperature measurements that employ the absorbance of the water baseline rather than the peak absorbance.

Design-Induced Latency Variation in Modern DRAM Chips

Variation has been shown to exist across the cells within a modern DRAM chip. Prior work has studied and exploited several forms of variation, such as manufacturing-process- or temperature-induced variation. We empirically demonstrate a new form of variation that exists within a real DRAM chip, induced by the design and placement of different components in the DRAM chip: different regions in DRAM, based on their relative distances from the peripheral structures, require different minimum access latencies for reliable operation. In particular, we show that in most real DRAM chips, cells closer to the peripheral structures can be accessed much faster than cells that are farther. We call this phenomenon design-induced variation in DRAM. Our goals are to i) understand design-induced variation that exists in real, state-of-the-art DRAM chips, ii) exploit it to develop low-cost mechanisms that can dynamically find and use the lowest latency at which to operate a DRAM chip reliably, and, thus, iii) improve overall system performance while ensuring reliable system operation. To this end, we first experimentally demonstrate and analyze designed-induced variation in modern DRAM devices by testing and characterizing 96 DIMMs (768 DRAM chips). Our characterization identifies DRAM regions that are vulnerable to errors, if operated at lower latency, and finds consistency in their locations across a given DRAM chip generation, due to design-induced variation. Based on our extensive experimental analysis, we develop two mechanisms that reliably reduce DRAM latency. First, DIVA Profiling uses runtime profiling to dynamically identify the lowest DRAM latency that does not introduce failures. DIVA Profiling exploits design-induced variation and periodically profiles only the vulnerable regions to determine the lowest DRAM latency at low cost. It is the first mechanism to dynamically determine the lowest latency that can be used to operate DRAM reliably. DIVA Profiling reduces the latency of read/write requests by 35.1%/57.8%, respectively, at 55°C. Our second mechanism, DIVA Shuffling, shuffles data such that values stored in vulnerable regions are mapped to multiple error-correcting code (ECC) codewords. As a result, DIVA Shuffling can correct 26% more multi-bit errors than conventional ECC. Combined together, our two mechanisms reduce read/write latency by 40.0%/60.5%, which translates to an overall system performance improvement of 14.7%/13.7%/13.8% (in 2-/4-/8-core systems) across a variety of workloads, while ensuring reliable operation.

Temperature gradients assist carbohydrate allocation within trees

Trees experience two distinct environments: thermally-variable air and thermally-buffered soil. This generates intra-tree temperature gradients, which can affect carbon metabolism and water transport. In this study, we investigated whether carbohydrate allocation within trees is assisted by temperature gradients. We studied pistachio (Pistacia integerrima) to determine: (1) temperature-induced variation in xylem sugar concentration in excised branches; (2) changes in carbon allocation in young trees under simulated spring and fall conditions; and (3) seasonal variability of starch levels in mature orchard trees under field conditions. We found that warm branches had less sugar in perfused sap than cold branches due to increasing parenchyma storage. Simulated spring conditions promoted allocation of carbohydrates from cold roots to warm canopy and explained why starch levels surged in canopies of orchard trees during early spring. This driving force of sugar transport is interrupted in fall when canopies are colder than roots and carbohydrate redistribution is compartmentalized. On the basis of these findings, we propose a new mechanistic model of temperature-assisted carbohydrate allocation that links environmental cues and tree phenology. This data-enabled model provides insights into thermal “fine-tuning” of carbohydrate metabolism and a warning that the physiological performance of trees might be impaired by climatic changes.

Design-Induced Latency Variation in Modern DRAM Chips

Variation has been shown to exist across the cells within a modern DRAM chip. Prior work has studied and exploited several forms of variation, such as manufacturing-process- or temperature-induced variation. We empirically demonstrate a new form of variation that exists within a real DRAM chip, induced by the design and placement of different components in the DRAM chip: different regions in DRAM, based on their relative distances from the peripheral structures, require different minimum access latencies for reliable operation. In particular, we show that in most real DRAM chips, cells closer to the peripheral structures can be accessed much faster than cells that are farther. We call this phenomenon design-induced variation in DRAM. Our goals are to i) understand design-induced variation that exists in real, state-of-the-art DRAM chips, ii) exploit it to develop low-cost mechanisms that can dynamically find and use the lowest latency at which to operate a DRAM chip reliably, and, thus, iii) improve overall system performance while ensuring reliable system operation. To this end, we first experimentally demonstrate and analyze designed-induced variation in modern DRAM devices by testing and characterizing 96 DIMMs (768 DRAM chips). Our experimental study shows that i) modern DRAM chips exhibit design-induced latency variation in both row and column directions, ii) access latency gradually increases in the row direction within a DRAM cell array (mat) and this pattern repeats in every mat, and iii) some columns require higher latency than others due to the internal hierarchical organization of the DRAM chip. Our characterization identifies DRAM regions that are vulnerable to errors, if operated at lower latency, and finds consistency in their locations across a given DRAM chip generation, due to design-induced variation. Variations in the vertical and horizontal dimensions, together, divide the cell array into heterogeneous-latency regions, where cells in some regions require longer access latencies for reliable operation. Reducing the latency uniformly across all regions in DRAM would improve performance, but can introduce failures in the inherently slower regions that require longer access latencies for correct operation. We refer to these inherently slower regions of DRAM as design-induced vulnerable regions. Based on our extensive experimental analysis, we develop two mechanisms that reliably reduce DRAM latency. First, DIVI Profiling uses runtime profiling to dynamically identify the lowest DRAM latency that does not introduce failures. DIVA Profiling exploits design-induced variation and periodically profiles only the vulnerable regions to determine the lowest DRAM latency at low cost. It is the first mechanism to dynamically determine the lowest latency that can be used to operate DRAM reliably. DIVA Profiling reduces the latency of read/write requests by 35.1%/57.8%, respectively, at 55C. Our second mechanism, DIVA Shuffling, shuffles data such that values stored in vulnerable regions are mapped to multiple error-correcting code (ECC) codewords. As a result, DIVA Shuffling can correct 26% more multi-bit errors than conventional ECC. Combined together, our two mechanisms reduce read/write latency by 40.0%/60.5%, which translates to an overall system performance improvement of 14.7%/13.7%/13.8% (in 2-/4-/8-core systems) over a variety of workloads, while ensuring reliable operation.

The performing animal: causes and consequences of body remodeling and metabolic adjustments in red knots facing contrasting thermal environments.

Using red knots (Calidris canutus) as a model, we determined how changes in mass and metabolic activity of organs relate to temperature-induced variation in metabolic performance. In cold-acclimated birds, we expected large muscles and heart as well as improved oxidative capacity and lipid transport, and we predicted that this would explain variation in maximal thermogenic capacity (Msum). We also expected larger digestive and excretory organs in these same birds and predicted that this would explain most of the variation in basal metabolic rate (BMR). Knots kept at 5°C were 20% heavier and maintained 1.5 times more body fat than individuals kept in thermoneutral conditions (25°C). The birds in the cold also had a BMR up to 32% higher and a Msum 16% higher than birds at 25°C. Organs were larger in the cold, with muscles and heart being 9-20% heavier and digestive and excretory organs being 21-36% larger than at thermoneutrality. Rather than the predicted digestive and excretory organs, the cold-induced increase in BMR correlated with changes in mass of the heart, pectoralis, and carcass. Msum varied positively with the mass of the pectoralis, supracoracoideus, and heart, highlighting the importance of muscles and cardiac function in cold endurance. Cold-acclimated knots also expressed upregulated capacity for lipid transport across mitochondrial membranes [carnitine palmitoyl transferase (CPT)] in their pectoralis and leg muscles, higher lipid catabolism capacity in their pectoralis muscles [β-hydroxyacyl CoA-dehydrogenase (HOAD)], and elevated oxidative capacity in their liver and kidney (citrate synthase). These adjustments may have contributed to BMR through changes in metabolic intensity. Positive relationships among Msum, CPT, and HOAD in the heart also suggest indirect constraints on thermogenic capacity through limited cardiac capacity.

Assessment of temperature-induced hERG channel blockade variation by drugs.

Drug-induced QT prolongation has been reported in humans and animals. This potentially lethal effect can be induced by drugs interacting with a cardiac potassium channel, namely hERG (human ether-a go-go-related gene) leading to arrhythmia or torsade de pointes (TdP). Hence, in vitro evaluation of therapeutics for their effects on the rapid delayed rectifier current (IKr) mediated by the K+ ion channel encoded by hERG is a valuable tool for identifying potential arrhythmic side effects during drug safety testing. Our objective was to evaluate the temperature-induced hERG channel blockade variation by human and veterinary drugs using the IonFlux 16 system. A panel of eight drugs was tested for IKr inhibition at both ambient (23 °C) and physiological (37 °C) temperatures at various concentrations using IonFlux 16, an automated patch clamp system. Our results established that both amiodarone (IC50 = 0.56 μM at 23 °C and 0.30 μM at 37 °C) and β-estradiol (IC50 = 24.72 μM at 23 °C and 8.17 μM at 37 °C) showed a dose-dependent IKr blockade with a higher blockade at 37 °C. Whereas, blockade of IKr by both ivermectin (IC50 = 12.52 μM at 23 °C and 24.41 μM at 37 °C) and frusemide (IC50 = 12.58 μM at 23 °C and 25.55 μM at 37 °C) showed a dose-dependent IKr blockade with a lower blockade at 37 °C. Gentamicin, enrofloxacin, xylazine and albendazole did not block IKr at both the assessed temperatures. Collectively, these results demonstrate that the effect of temperature variation should be taken into consideration during the evaluation of test drugs for their hERG channel blockade potential. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Note: A component-level frequency tunable isolator for vibration-sensitive chips using SMA beams.

This note presents a component-level frequency tunable isolator for vibration-sensitive chips. The isolator employed 8 U-shaped shape memory alloy (SMA) beams to support an isolation island (used for mounting chips). Due to the temperature-induced Young's modulus variation of SMA, the system stiffness of the isolator can be controlled through heating the SMA beams. In such a way, the natural frequency of the isolator can be tuned. A prototype was fabricated to evaluate the concept. The test results show that the natural frequency of the isolator can be tuned in the range of 64 Hz-97 Hz by applying different heating strategies. Moreover, resonant vibration can be suppressed significantly (the transmissibility decreases about 65% near the resonant frequency) using a real-time tuning method.

Temperature-induced variation in yolk androgen and thyroid hormone levels in avian eggs

Global warming has substantially changed the environment, but the mechanisms to cope with these changes in animals, including the role of maternal effects, are poorly understood. Maternal effects via hormones deposited in eggs, have important environment-dependent effects on offspring development and fitness: thus females are expected to adjust these hormones to the environment, such as the ambient temperature. Longer-term temperature variation could function as a cue, predicting chick rearing conditions to which yolk hormone levels are adjusted, while short-term temperature variation during egg formation may causally affect hormone transfer to eggs. We studied the effects of ambient temperature on yolk androgens (testosterone and androstenedione) and thyroid hormones (thyroxine and triiodothyronine) in great tits (Parus major) using data from unmanipulated clutches from a wild population and from aviary birds (ad libitum food) exposed to different experimental temperature treatments during five years. Both in the wild and in captivity, longer-term pre-laying ambient temperature was not associated with clutch mean yolk hormone levels, while the way androstenedione and thyroxine levels varied across the laying sequence did associate with pre-laying temperature in the wild. Yolk testosterone levels were positively correlated with short-term temperature (during yolk formation) changes within clutches in both wild and captivity. We also report, for the first time in a wild bird, that yolk thyroxine levels correlated with a key environmental factor: thyroxine levels were negatively correlated with ambient temperature during egg formation. Thus, yolk hormone levels, especially testosterone, seem to be causally affected by ambient temperature. These short-term effects might reflect physiological changes in females with changes in ambient temperature. The adaptive value of the variation with ambient temperatures pre-laying or during egg formation should be studied with hormone manipulations in different thermal environments.

Rheology Test on Shear Viscosity of Surfactant Solution: Characteristic Time, Hysteresis Phenomenon, and Fitting Equation

A series of rheology tests on surfactant solutions (cetyltrimethylammonium chloride and sodium salicylate system, hereafter referred to as CTAC/NaSal) were performed in the present study. First we investigated the characteristic times (induction time and “plateau” time) of the viscosity variation process to study the effects of shear and temperature on micellar transition on the time scale. It was proved that the characteristic time has a power law dependence on shear rate. The power exponent varies around −1 and increases with temperature. By contrast, concentration influences the characteristic time little. Second the temperature-induced viscosity variation hysteresis phenomenon is studied for the first time. The viscosity variation obviously lags behind the varying temperature, and a “viscosity variation hysteresis circle” (VVH circle) is formed between curves tested under increasing and decreasing temperature. The shear-induced viscosity variation hysteresis also was studied from the induction time vi...

Quantitative determination based on the differences between spectra-temperature relationships

In the Near-infrared (NIR) spectral measurement it is not always possible to keep the experimental conditions constant. The fluctuations in external variables, such as temperature, will result in a nonlinear shift and a broadening of the spectral bands. In this study, the temperature-induced spectral variation coefficient (TSVC) was obtained by using loading space standardization (LSS). The relationship between TSVC and normalized squared temperature was quantitatively analyzed and applied to the quantitative determination of the compositions in mixtures. NIR spectra of peanut-soy-corn oil mixtures measured at seven temperatures were analyzed. It was found that, the relationship between TSVC and normalized squared temperature can be established by using LSS. Furthermore, the quantitative determination of the compositions in a mixture can be achieved by using the difference between the relationships, i.e., the slope of the relationship. The calibration curves between slope and composition volume are found to be reliable with the correlation coefficients (R2) as high as 0.9992. Quantitative determination by the calibration curves were also validated. Therefore, the method can be an effective tool for investigating the effect of temperature and quantitatively analysis.

Energy transfer properties and temperature-dependent luminescence of Ca14Al10Zn6O35: Dy3+, Mn4+ phosphors

Dy3+-doped or Dy3+/Mn4+ co-doped Ca14Al10Zn6O35 phosphors were prepared by the solid-state reaction method. The phosphors were characterized by means of XRD, SEM, luminescence analysis, and thermal stability analysis. The obtained phosphors can be excited efficiently by NUV light and exhibit blue/yellow emission and deep red emission, which result from 4F9/2 → 6H15/2/4F9/2 → 6H13/2 transitions of Dy3+ ions and 2E → 4A2 transition of Mn4+ ions, respectively. The efficient energy transfer from Dy3+ ions to Mn4+ ions was confirmed, which was realized via the electric dipole–dipole interaction. The thermal quenching temperature of the phosphors is higher than 463 K, indicating that the phosphors have an excellent thermal stability. The temperature-induced electron population variation in the vibrational states caused the different influence on the emission intensity of Stokes and anti-Stokes sidebands of Mn4+ ions. By adding Na+ ion as a charge compensator and changing its doping concentration, the emission intensity of Ca13.88Al9.99Zn6O35: 0.12Dy3+, 0.01Mn4+ sample can be enhanced and the color tunability can be achieved. Ca14Al10Zn6O35: Dy3+, Mn4+, Na+ phosphors have potential application in solid-state lighting field.

Enzyme activity deviates due to spatial and temporal temperature profiles in commercial microtiter plate readers.

Microtiter plates (MTP) and automatized techniques are increasingly applied in the field of biotechnology. However, the susceptibility of MTPs to edge effects such as thermal gradients can lead to high variation of measured enzyme activities. In an effort to enhance experimental reliability, to quantify, and to minimize instrument-caused deviations in enzyme kinetics between two MTP-readers, we comprehensively quantified temperature distribution in 96-well MTPs. We demonstrated the robust application of the absorbance dye cresol red as easily applicable temperature indicator in cuvettes and MTPs and determined its accuracy to ±0.16°C. We then quantified temperature distributions in 96-well MTPs revealing temperature deviations over single MTP of up to 2.2°C and different patterns in two commercial devices (BioTek Synergy 4 and Synergy Mx). The obtained liquid temperature was shown to be substantially controlled by evaporation. The temperature-induced enzyme activity variation within MTPs amounted to about 20 %. Activity deviations between MTPs and to those in cuvettes were determined to 40 % due to deviations from the set temperature in MTPs. In conclusion, we propose a better control of experimental conditions in MTPs or alternative experimental systems for reliable determination of kinetic parameters for bioprocess development.

Temperature-induced variation in gene expression burst size in metazoan cells.

BackgroundGene expression is an inherently stochastic process, owing to its dynamic molecular nature. Protein amount distributions, which can be acquired by cytometry using a reporter gene, can inform about the mechanisms of the underlying microscopic molecular system.ResultsBy using different clones of chicken erythroid progenitor cells harboring different integration sites of a CMV-driven mCherry protein, we investigated the dynamical behavior of such distributions. We show that, on short term, clone distributions can be quickly regenerated from small population samples with a high accuracy. On longer term, on the contrary, we show variations manifested by correlated fluctuation in the Mean Fluorescence Intensity. In search for a possible cause of this correlation, we demonstrate that in response to small temperature variations cells are able to adjust their gene expression rate: a modest (2 °C) increase in external temperature induces a significant down regulation of mean expression values, with a reverse effect observed when the temperature is decreased. Using a two-state model of gene expression we further demonstrate that temperature acts by modifying the size of transcription bursts, while the burst frequency of the investigated promoter is less systematically affected.ConclusionsFor the first time, we report that transcription burst size is a key parameter for gene expression that metazoan cells from homeotherm animals can modify in response to an external thermal stimulus.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12867-015-0048-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Tuning the Magnetic Properties of Cobalt-Based Metallic Glass Nanocomposites

Temperature-induced variation in magnetic properties for cobalt-based metallic glass was investigated. The formation of metastable nanocrystalline phases prior to complete devitrification and their effect on magnetic properties for Co72B19.2Si4.8Cr4 metallic glass was studied. The nature, shape, and distribution of the intermediate nanocrystalline phases were characterized using transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. A drastic change in magnetic properties was found in going from a fully amorphous state to different stages of nanocrystallization. The coercivity changes from amorphous soft magnetic state (Hc ~ 0.12 Oe) to a nanocrystalline-dispersed hard magnetic state (Hc ~ 187 Oe), with no significant change in saturation magnetization. This suggests potential use in futuristic magnetic switches, fluxgate sensors, and electromagnetic shielding devices.

Plastic Responses to Temperature Versus Local Adaptation at the Cold Extreme of the Climate Gradient

Climate is a strong selection agent at high elevations, but experimental examinations of how animals exclusive of highlands cope with its variation are scarce. We analysed temperature-induced variation of early ontogenetic traits in the alpine grasshopper Chorthippus cazurroi, and compared populations from the elevational extremes of the species distribution under laboratory conditions spanning natural temperature ranges. Neither elevation of origin, nor different growing temperatures, had a direct effect on nymph body size, but both factors contributed to size at hatching indirectly, via their effect on the duration of embryo development. Large emerging nymphs had a consistently greater survival, although small and fast-developing nymphs from highlands also performed well at low temperatures. Viability selection favoured fast-developing phenotypes in conditions in which plasticity delayed development, in a typical countergradient pattern. Growth in the successive stage did not compensate for slow development at hatching, thus responses at this early stage have potential long-lasting consequences. Although phenotypic selection during early development certifies the strength of selection imposed by cold temperatures in the laboratory, elevation clines of body size did not emerge in either nymphs or the wild parental generation. Differentiation in the wild may be levelled out by fecundity selection for large sizes, drift and gene flow resulting from the fragmentation and proximity of populations, or by micro-climatic differences that reduce the likelihood of directional selection. There is therefore potential for local adaptation to temperature, but a series of conditions typical of alpine environments and ectotherms may impair, confound or constrain full differentiation along the gradient.