In the first of these [26], we studied the effect of electrostatic fields on the rate Selleckchem OSI-906 of drying of wet materials. It is well known from the study of transport phenomena that a thin layer of relatively inert air exists at the surface of most materials where the relative velocity of gas flow asymptotically drops to zero. These surface boundary layers both interfere with the diffusion of gases out of the material and limit the rate of convective heat transfer into it (e.g., [3], [6] and [7]).

It is also known that an electric or “corona” wind is generated on the surface of electrically charged objects as a result of ions leaving the surface, and this wind can cause a marked increase in heat conduction at a surface by disrupting the stagnant surface boundary layer [2], [4], [8], [27], [31] and [37]. This electrostatic effect per ion is several orders of magnitude above thermal noise. In our previous study, we found that electrostatic fields comparable to those used in CAS freezers were able to disrupt the inert surface boundary layer of air molecules, and dramatically shorten drying times [26]. We therefore argue here that

the high-voltage NU7441 mw electrostatic fields applied in the CAS freezers are increasing the cooling efficiency by disrupting the surface boundary layer of inert gas at the surface of their materials. The cooling enhancements shown by Owada et al. [34] are, in fact, similar in style to that we reported previously [26]. Hence, either DC or AC high-voltage electric fields would be expected to promote rapid heat removal needed for supercooling. An intrinsically more interesting question concerns the possible mechanism of action of the weak, oscillating magnetic fields on cryopreservation. There are only four possible physical coupling mechanisms that can yield interaction effects of oscillating magnetic fields with matter (electrical induction, diamagnetism, paramagnetism, and ferromagnetism). However, for low-frequency fields weaker than a few hundred uT, all except

ferromagnetism do not work, with peak interaction energies well below the thermal noise limit. We are in complete agreement with Wowk [44] on this. However, particles of ferromagnetic materials can interact hundreds to thousands of times stronger with earth-strength Methane monooxygenase magnetic fields than the background thermal energy (see discussion by Kirschvink [19]). Owada et al. [34] and [35] and Wowk [44] did not consider the well-known presence of ferromagnetic materials, principally biologically-precipitated magnetite (Fe3O4), in a wide range of biological tissues (see [13], [20], [30], [39], [40], [41] and [43], for example). These observations have been replicated widely (e.g., [5], [9], [11], [14], [15], [16] and [36]). Brain tissues in humans have been studied extensively [5], [9], [10], [11], [16], [21], [22] and [36], and magnetite deposits in specialized cells are extensive [24] and [25].