Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are biological antifreezes with unique properties, including thermal hysteresis(TH),ice recrystallization inhibition(IRI),and interaction with membranes and/or membrane proteins. These properties have been utilized in the preservation of biological samples at low temperatures. Here, we review the structure and function of marine-derived AFPs, including moderately acti...

Gas-liquid-solid phase transition behaviour of water is studied with environmental scanning electron microscopy for the first time. Abnormal phenomena are observed. At a fixed pressure of 450 Pa, with the temperature set to -7 °C, direct desublimation happens, and ice grows continuously along the substrate surface. At 550 Pa, although ice is the stable phase according to the phase diagram, meta...

Despite rapid melting in the coastal regions of the Greenland Ice Sheet, a significant area (~40%) of the ice sheet rarely experiences surface melting. In these regions, the controls on annual accumulation are poorly constrained owing to surface conditions (for example, surface clouds, blowing snow, and surface inversions), which render moisture flux estimates from myriad approaches (that is, e...

Polythermal ice sheets and glaciers contain both cold ice and temperate ice. We present two new models to describe the temperature and water content of such ice masses, accounting for the possibility of gravityand pressure-driven water drainage according to Darcy’s law. Both models are based on the principle of energy conservation; one additionally invokes the theory of viscous compaction to ca...

In situ Raman spectra of transformations of H2O as functions of pressure and temperature have been measured starting from high-density amorphous ice (HDA). Changes above Tx, the crystallization temperature of HDA, were observed. The spectra provide evidence for an abrupt, first-order-like, structural change that appears to be distinct from those associated with the transformation between low-de...

INTRODUCTIONCryosections are rapidly and relatively easily prepared prior to fixation, and they provide a good system for visualizing fine details of the cell. Although cryosections are physically less stable than paraffin- or resin-embedded sections, they are generally superior for the preservation of antigenicity and therefore the detection of antigens by microscopy. The preparation of cryose...

This paper describes the main thermodynamic concepts related to the construction of supplemented phase (or state) diagrams (SPDs) for aqueous solutions containing vitrifying agents used in the cryoand dehydro-preservation of natural (foods, seeds, etc.) and synthetic (pharmaceuticals) products. It also reviews the empirical and theoretical equations employed to predict equilibrium transitions (...

A 1-D ice cover model was developed to predict and constrain drivers of long-term ice thickness trends in chemically stratified lakes of Taylor Valley, Antarctica. The model is driven by surface radiative heat fluxes and heat fluxes from the underlying water column. The model successfully reproduced 16 a (between 1996 and 2012) of ice thickness changes for the west lobe of Lake Bonney (average ...

The Biochemist — February 2005. © 2005 Biochemical Society 12 of metres thick. The majority of the ice in the Southern Ocean lasts only less than 1 year, and the average Antarctic sea ice thickness is 1 m. In contrast, in the Arctic Ocean sea ice can last several years and the average thickness is generally 2 m. When ice forms from freshwater, the result is a hard brittle solid with the primary...

Nanoparticles of iron oxide (crystalline and amorphous), silicon oxide and magnesium oxide were investigated for their propensity to nucleate ice over the temperature range 180–250 K, using the AIDA chamber in Karlsruhe, Germany. All samples were observed to initiate ice formation via the deposition mode at threshold ice super-saturations (RHithresh) ranging from 105% to 140% for temperatures b...