sodium-bromate and ferroin

Coupled chemical oscillators are usually studied with symmetric coupling, either between identical oscillators or between oscillators whose frequencies differ. Asymmetric connectivity is important in neuroscience, where synaptic strength inequality in neural networks commonly occurs. While the properties of the individual oscillators in some coupled chemical systems may be readily changed, enforcing inequality between the connection strengths in a reciprocal coupling is more challenging. We recently demonstrated a novel way of coupling chemical oscillators, which allows for manipulation of individual connection strengths. Here we study two identical, pulse-coupled Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) oscillators with unequal connection strengths. When the pulse perturbations contain KBr (inhibitor), this system exhibits simple out-of-phase and complex oscillations, oscillatory-suppressed states as well as temporally periodic patterns (N : M) in which the two oscillators exhibit different numbers of peaks per cycle. The N : M patterns emerge due to the long-term effect of the inhibitory pulse-perturbations, a feature that has not been considered in earlier works. Time delay was previously shown to have a profound effect on the system's behaviour when pulse coupling was inhibitory and the coupling strengths were equal. When the coupling is asymmetric, however, delay produces no qualitative change in behaviour, though the 1 : 2 temporal pattern becomes more robust. Asymmetry in instantaneous excitatory coupling via AgNO3 injection produces a previously unseen temporal pattern (1 : N patterns starting with a double peak) with time delay and high [AgNO3]. Numerical simulations of the behaviour agree well with theoretical predictions in asymmetrical pulse-coupled systems.

Topics: Bromates; Bromides; Malonates; Models, Neurological; Nerve Net; Periodicity; Phenanthrolines; Potassium Compounds; Silver Nitrate; Sodium Compounds; Sulfuric Acids; Synapses

We present an investigation of spiral waves pinned to circular and rectangular obstacles with different circumferences in both thin layers of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction and numerical simulations with the Oregonator model. For circular objects, the area always increases with the circumference. In contrast, we varied the circumference of rectangles with equal areas by adjusting their width w and height h. For both obstacle forms, the propagating parameters (i.e., wavelength, wave period, and velocity of pinned spiral waves) increase with the circumference, regardless of the obstacle area. Despite these common features of the parameters, the forms of pinned spiral waves depend on the obstacle shapes. The structures of spiral waves pinned to circles as well as rectangles with the ratio w/h∼1 are similar to Archimedean spirals. When w/h increases, deformations of the spiral shapes are observed. For extremely thin rectangles with w/h≫1, these shapes can be constructed by employing semicircles with different radii which relate to the obstacle width and the core diameter of free spirals.

Topics: Bromates; Diffusion; Malonates; Models, Chemical; Phenanthrolines; Sodium Compounds; Sulfuric Acids

Biological systems have evolved for a long time under the normal gravity. The Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction is a nonlinear chemical system far from the equilibrium that may be considered as a simplified chemical model of the biological systems so as to study the effect of gravity. The reaction solution is comprised of bromate in sulfuric acid as an oxidizing agent, 1,4-cyclohexanedione as an organic substrate, and ferroin as a metal catalyst. Chemical waves in the BZ reaction-diffusion system are visualized as blue and red patterns of ferriin and ferroin, respectively. After an improvement to the tubular reaction vessels in the experimental setup, the traveling velocity of chemical waves in aqueous solutions was measured in time series under normal gravity, microgravity, hyper-gravity, and normal gravity using the free-fall facility of JAMIC (Japan Microgravity Center), Hokkaido, Japan. Chemical patterns were collected as image data via CCD camera and analyzed by the software of NIH image after digitization. The estimated traveling velocity increased with increasing gravity as expected. It was clear experimentally that the traveling velocity of target patterns in reaction diffusion system was influenced by the effect of convection and correlated closely with the gravity field.

Topics: Bromates; Bromides; Cells; Convection; Cyclohexanones; Diffusion; Gravitation; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Models, Chemical; Nonlinear Dynamics; Oscillometry; Oxidation-Reduction; Phenanthrolines; Sodium Compounds; Solutions; Sulfuric Acids; Weightlessness

The Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reactions were used as typical examples of a nonlinear system far from equilibrium in connection with biological evolution. The virtual absence of gravity in the present work was given from the free-fall facility of Japan Microgravity Center (JAMIC) in Hokkaido. The reaction solution of BZ reaction was composed of bromate in sulfuric acid, 1,4-cyclohexanedione and ferroin to visualize the time development of patterns of chemical oscillations in the reaction-diffusion system. It is a bubble-free constitution in the aging of the reaction. Therefore, the setup constructed to collect image data via CCD cameras was simplified. The operation sequences of necessary devices were comprised of simple solid state relays which were started by a command from the operation room of JAMIC. The propagation profile of chemical patterns under microgravity of 10(-5) g was collected as image data for 9.8 s, and processed by a software of STM-STS2. In the aqueous solutions, propagation velocity of chemical patterns under microgravity was decreased to 80.9 % of that under normal gravity, owing to suppression of convection. On the other hand, in gel matrix, gravity did not influence the propagation velocity.

Topics: Bromates; Bromides; Convection; Cyclohexanones; Diffusion; Evolution, Chemical; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Models, Chemical; Oscillometry; Oxidation-Reduction; Phenanthrolines; Sodium Compounds; Solutions; Sulfuric Acids; Weightlessness