Discrete layers of interacting growing protein seeds: convective and morphological stages of evolution.

The growth of several macromolecular seeds uniformly distributed on the bottom of a protein reactor (i.e., a discrete layer of N crystals embedded within a horizontal layer of liquid with no-slip boundaries) under microgravity conditions is investigated for different values of N and for two values of the geometrical aspect ratio of the container.

A CFD level-set method for soft tissue growth: theory and fundamental equations.

A level-set method, specifically conceived for the case of soft organic tissue growth from feeding solutions, is introduced and described in detail. The model can handle the morphological evolution of the organic specimen under the influence of external convection (fluid-dynamics of the bioreactor). The analogies and differences between this technique and a previous volume of fraction method are discussed pointing out advantages and limitations of both formulations.

Effect of convective disturbances induced by g-jitter on the periodic precipitation of lysozyme.

Numerical simulations are carried out to investigate the crystallization process of a protein macromolecular substance under two different conditions: pure diffusive regime and microgravity conditions present on space laboratories. The configuration under investigation consists of a protein reactor and a salt chamber separated by an "interface". The interface is strictly related to the presence of agarose gel in one of the two chambers.

The growth and the fluid dynamics of protein crystals and soft organic tissues: models and simulations, similarities and differences.

The fluid-dynamic environment within typical growth reactors as well as the interaction of such flow with the intrinsic kinetics of the growth process are investigated in the frame of the new fields of protein crystal and tissue engineering. The paper uses available data to introduce a set of novel growth models. The surface conditions are coupled to the exchange mass flux at the specimen/culture-medium interface and lead to the introduction of a group of differential equations for the nutrient concentration around the sample and for the evolution of the construct mass displacement.