Dehaven, J.C.Shapiro, N.Z.2005-07-132005-07-131968-10http://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/1365The authors of this study examine the proposition that certain physicochemical properties of biological fluids contribute to maintaining the steady-state concentration gradients that occur in physiological systems. In particular, simple electrostatic solution theory is used to demonstrate that differences in ionic strength and dielectric constants of fluids separated by simple membranes can produce large concentration gradients for uncharged organic substances between the fluids. The magnitude of the gradients, and whether they are greater or less than one, is shown to depend on the electrostatic characteristics of the fluids and on the size and signs of the dielectric increments of the substances.2460236 bytesapplication/pdfen-USSpeculationsPhysicochemical FluidPhysilogical RegulationTechnical Report