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Biomedical subjects

P F Scholander

Publications and source records attributed to P F Scholander.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1980

Sickle-cell hemoglobin: fall in osmotic pressure upon deoxygenation.

Macromolecules such as hemoglobin exert both kinetic and matrix effects on osmotic pressure. The kinetic osmotic pressure of sickle-cell hemoglobin is lost upon deoxygenation at physiological erythrocyte concentrations. The non-kinetic or matrix component of osmotic pressure remains relatively unchanged. Loss of thermal-osmotic activity during deoxygenation occurs throughout a hemoglobin concentration range between 2.5 and 35 g/100 ml. Deoxygenation of sickle-cell hemoglobin causes aggregation such that the matrix effect is unchanged but the kinetic (van't Hoff) effect nearly vanishes. A loss of intracellular osmotic pressure during deoxygenation could dehydrate the erythrocyte sufficiently to promote more rapid sickle-cell hemoglobin aggregation. Subsequently, complete gelation of these aggregates could cause additional water loss and thrust the sickled cell into an irreversible cycle. The osmotic pressure of normal hemoglobin does not change appreciably during deoxygenation and is essentially the same as the osmotic pressure of oxygenated sickle-cell hemoglobin.

Erythrocytes, Abnormal↗
PubMed1975

Water states and water gates in osmotic processes, and the inoperative concept of molfraction of water.

An historical account is given of concepts regarding the mechanism of osmosis and imbibition, starting with Lord Kelvin's gravitational column, where he pointed out that a capillary standing in a dish of water within an isothermal enclosure must have a lowered vapor pressure at its elevated meniscus so as to match that emanating from the surface in the dish, otherwise distillation would violate the Second law. A brilliant sequence to this simple idea followed through Poynting, Arrhenius, Noyes and culminated with Hulett, who in 1901 formulated the "solvent tension theory" of osmosis, stating in essence that the thermal motion of the solute molecules by impact with the free solvent surface put the solvent under tension. This lowers the vapor pressure and thereby also its freezing point. Perrin, in famous experiments on Brownian motion, demonstrated solute-solvent independence within a solution and further support came through Herzfeld, Mysels and Duclaux. We measured negative pressures in salt-free sap of mangroves and other plants matching the osmotic pressure in the leaf cells. A series of measurements on magnetic and gravitational effects on osmotic pressure likewise bore out the tension theory. The fashionable "water concentration theory" is left experimentally contradicted and in violation of the Second law.

Capillary Action↗
PubMed1973

Thermal motion and forced migration of colloidal particles generate hydrostatic pressure in solvent.

A colloidal solution of ferrite particles in an osmometer has been used to demonstrate that the property that propels water across the semipermeable membrane is the decrease in hydrostatic pressure in the water of the solution. A magnetic field gradient directed so as to force the ferrite particles away from the semipermeable membrane of the osmometer and toward the free surface of the solution enhanced the colloidal osmotic pressure. The enhancement of this pressure was always exactly equal to the augmentation of the pressure as measured by the outward force of the particles, against the area of the free surface. Contrariwise, directing the magnetic field gradient so as to force the ferrite particles away from the free surface and toward the semipermeable membrane diminished the colloidal osmotic pressure of the solution. For a sufficiently forceful field gradient, the initial colloidal osmotic pressure could be negative, followed by an equilibrium pressure approaching zero regardless of the force of the particles against the membrane. Thus, the osmotic pressure of a solution is to be attributed to the pressure in the solvent generated in opposition to the pressure of the solute particles caused by their interaction with the free surface (Brownian motion and/or an external field force), or by their viscous shear when they migrate through the solvent, or both.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1972

Molecular buoyancy and osmotic equilibrium.

Measurements of osmotic equilibrium of colloidal solutions, ranging from 170,000 to 20,000 in molecular weight, show that the negative buoyancy of the solute molecules is additive to the osmotic pressure. Seen together with earlier measurements of positive buoyancy of oil suspensions, these data confirm that the osmotic interaction between solute and solvent at equilibrium is purely a force-coupling at the free surface.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1971

Experiments on osmosis with magnetic fluid.

Experiments on a ferromagnetic colloidal fluid at equilibrium showed equality between magnetic and osmotic force; this result identifies solute pressure against the free surface as the cause of the negative solvent pressure. Except for water of hydration, there is no other osmotic interaction between solute and solvent.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1971

Effect of gravity on osmotic equilibria.

Experiments with colloidal suspensions of oil and iron oxide at equilibrium show that the buoyancy of the suspended particles is additive to the osmotic pressure and that the relation remains with the free surface and not with the membrane. The experiments contribute to the general concept that osmotic pressure is caused by the dispersal pressure of solute molecules and that the osmotic interaction with the water at equilibrium is due solely to a coupling at the free surface.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1968

Sap tension in flooded trees and bushes of the Amazon.

The water relations of the inundated forest of the Rio Negro in the Amazon have been investigated. The sap pressure in trees and bushes standing in several meters of water was found to average between -15 and -20 atm in sunshine. and above -10 in overcast. In rainy weather and at night. the pressure would remain close to ambient. Submerged leaves had ambient or sometimes very slightly positive pressure. Pinnate leaves of legumes folded when the pressure rose above a critical level characteristic of the species. Dehydration curves from full turgor to negative turgor showed 3 characteristic phases: A) a steep decline in pressure when the turgor disappeared; B) a linear decline at zero turgor proportional to the increase in osmotic pressure; and C) a steep decline as negative turgor (intracellular packing) developed. The tensions in the drowned forests were similar to those found in inundated plants of temperate lakes. and hence like many plants in a humid forest. However, in the daytime many flooded plants of the Amazon reached zero turgor without any external sign of wilting.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1967

Osmotic mechanism and negative pressure.

When solute molecules are confined, they exert a positive pressure on the barrier. If this is simply the free solvent surface, balance of forces requires the solvent to attain an equal negative hydrostatic pressure. This offers a sufficient explanation for the reduction of the vapor pressure over a solution.

Chemical Phenomena↗