Soft wetting: Substrate softness- and time-dependent droplet/bubble adhesion

HYPOTHESIS

The droplet/bubble adhesion characteristics depend on the length of the droplet/bubble three-phase contact line. Since the deformation caused by the liquid-gas interfacial tension on the soft substrate, referred as to the wetting ridge, retards contact line spreading and retraction, we conjecture that the droplet/bubble adhesion characteristics depend also on the substrate softness.

EXPERIMENTS

Soft substrates with various shear moduli are prepared and characterized by the spreading and receding dynamics of water droplets and underwater bubbles. Snap-in and normal adhesion forces of droplets/bubbles on such soft substrates are directly measured along with the visualized droplet/bubble shape profiles.

FINDINGS

The droplet/bubble snap-in force, which corresponds to the short-time spreading dynamics, decreases with a decrease in the substrate shear modulus because of the retarded contact line spreading. The droplet maximal adhesion force on a soft substrate can be counterintuitively either smaller or larger than its counterpart on the rigid substrate depending on different dwelling times, i.e., the droplet/bubble-substrate contact time before droplet/bubble-substrate separation. The former is attributed to the retarded contact line spreading, whereas the latter is attributed to the retarded contact line retraction. The substrate softness- and dwelling time-dependent droplet/bubble adhesion reported in this study will benefit various applications related to soft substrates.

Dynamic and Quasi-static Droplet Penetration through Meshes

We investigate experimentally the effects of pore size, surface wettability, and penetration mode on the characteristics of liquid penetration through meshes. Utilizing the impact of droplets and the hydrostatic pressure, we study water penetration through superhydrophobic, hydrophobic, superhydrophilic, and hydrophilic meshes with different uniform radii and pitch values of the pores. In the case of dynamic penetration enabled by the droplet impact, our results show that surface wettability has a negligible effect on either the threshold speed of the droplet penetration or the penetrating liquid mass. The threshold droplet speed is found to be mainly determined by the synergistic effects of global and local dynamic pressures of the impacting droplet, and a modified expression for the threshold droplet speed is proposed. For the quasi-static penetration based on the applied hydrostatic pressure, we find that surface wettability and pore pitch do not affect the penetration threshold pressure but do affect the pressure at which the liquid penetration ceases. This is due to the fact that under quasi-static conditions, the droplet liquid spreads out and merges with that at the adjacent pores on the mesh underside, affecting the wetted area and, hence, the capillary pressure resisting penetration.

The Gantzer transfer - Assessment of the feasibility of using the nerve supplying the Gantzer muscle for end-to-side supercharging of the ulnar nerve

Our study aimed at assessing the anatomical feasibility of using the nerve supplying the Gantzer muscle (GM) to supercharge the ulnar nerve following injury. The GM nerve was dissected and measured in 36 forearms. The distance between its origin and the lateral epicondyle of humerus and between the GM nerve and the ulnar nerve was measured. The GM was present in 15 forearms (47%). The average distance between the origin of the GM nerve and the lateral epicondyle was 7.34 cm (range 3.3-9.1 cm). The average length of the GM nerve was 3.05 cm (range 1.6-4.5 cm) from origin to neuromuscular junction. The average distance from the ulnar nerve was 2.56 cm (range 1.8-13 3.4 cm). The length of the GM nerve was significantly greater (p < 0.05) than the perpendicular distance between its origin and the ulnar nerve, allowing ample margin for side-to-side or end-to-side supercharging of the ulnar nerve with minimal or no need for further translocation or dissection. The use of the GM nerve as donor following ulnar nerve injury may provide an alternative to the pronator quadratus nerve for supercharged end-to-side transfer, or as an addition, thus supercharging the ulnar nerve twice.

Neglected congenital trigger thumb

We present a case of neglected trigger thumb in a forty-year-old male. The patient presented to our clinic due to bilateral triggering of his fourth digit. He attested to having pain and limitation of joint movement of his left thumb since his childhood in the former Soviet Union, with occasional triggering. This eventually subsided and the thumb became stuck in relative flexion and could not be fully extended. We performed X-rays of both thumbs wherein the left affected thumb interphalangeal joint showed an aberrant configuration and sclerosis of both joint surfaces. The joint surface curvature was altered on the left side and contact area reduced. This presentation of altered thumb interphalangeal joint biomechanics following an untreated congenital trigger thumb further emphasizes the need for surgical intervention when indicated.

Cross-modal comparisons of stimulus specificity and commonality in phonological processing

Phonological processing is a fundamental ability which underlies language comprehension. Functional neuroanatomy of phonology constitutes a matter of ongoing debate. In the present study, subjects performed visual (rhyme detection) and auditory (identification of spoken words starting with a given consonant) tasks that were contrasted with matched nonverbal tasks. We identified regions critical for phonological processing which were either stimulus specific or supramodal. The results revealed a high degree of modality specificity in both visual and auditory networks. Moreover, we observed a modality independent region in the left middle temporal gyrus (MTG)/superior temporal sulcus (STS), between a more anterior temporal area with auditory specificity and a more posterior temporal area with visual specificity. This dissociation in functional neuroanatomy suggests that this area may be a core region for supramodal phonological processing, acting as a gateway between spatially separate, but stimulus specific, phonological processes and more general linguistic functions.

Meta-analysis of operative mortality and complications in patients from minority ethnic groups

BACKGROUND

Insight into the effects of ethnic disparities on patients' perioperative safety is necessary for the development of tailored improvement strategies. The aim of this study was to review the literature on safety differences between patients from minority ethnic groups and those from the ethnic majority undergoing surgery.

METHODS

PubMed, CINAHL, the Cochrane Library and Embase were searched using predefined inclusion criteria for available studies from January 1990 to January 2013. After quality assessment, the study data were organized on the basis of outcome, statistical significance and the direction of the observed effects. Relative risks for mortality were calculated.

RESULTS

After screening 3105 studies, 26 studies were identified. Nine of these 26 studies showed statistically significant higher mortality rates for patients from minority ethnic groups. Meta-analysis demonstrated a greater risk of mortality for these patients compared with patients from the Caucasian majority in studies performed both in North America (risk ratio 1·22, 95 per cent confidence interval 1·05 to 1·42) and outside (risk ratio 2·25, 1·40 to 3·62). For patients from minority groups, the length of hospital or intensive care unit stay was significantly longer in five studies, and complication rates were significantly higher in ten. Methods used to identify patient ethnicity were not described in 14 studies.

CONCLUSION

Patients from minority ethnic groups, in North America and elsewhere, have an increased risk of perioperative death and complications. More insight is needed into the causes of ethnic disparities to pursue safer perioperative care for patients of minority ethnicity.

Stability analysis of a thin liquid film on an axially oscillating cylindrical surface in the high-frequency limit

We consider an axisymmetric liquid film on a horizontal cylindrical surface subjected to axial harmonic oscillation in the high-frequency limit. We derive and analyze the nonlinear evolution equation describing the nonlinear dynamics of this physical system in terms of the averaged film thickness. The method used for the derivation of the evolution equation is based on long-wave theory and the separation of the relevant fields into fast and slow components. We carry out the linear stability analysis for a film of a constant thickness which shows that axial forcing of the cylinder may result in either stabilization or destabilization of the axisymmetric flow with respect to the unforced one, depending on the choice of the parameter set. The analysis is extended to the weakly nonlinear stage and it reveals that the system bifurcates subcritically from the equilibrium.

Nonlinear pattern formation in thin liquid films under external vibrations

We study a thin liquid film with a free surface on a planar horizontal substrate. The substrate is subjected to oscillatory accelerations in the normal and/or in the horizontal direction(s). The description is based on the longwave approximation including inertia effects, which are important due to the large velocities imparted by external vibrations. The linearized system is examined using the Floquet analysis. Pattern formation in the nonlinear regime is computed numerically from the longwave equations for the thickness and the flow rate of the fluid in two and in three spatial dimensions. For certain amplitude and frequency ranges, combined lateral and normal oscillations can give rise to one or more traveling drops, similar to recent experimental findings by Brunet et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 144501 (2007)].

Nonlinear dynamics of a thin liquid film on an axially oscillating cylindrical surface subjected to double-frequency forcing

The nonlinear dynamics of a thin axisymmetric liquid film on a horizontal cylindrical substrate subjected to an axial double-frequency forcing that consists of two components of different amplitudes and frequencies and a possible phase shift is considered in this paper. A nonlinear evolution equation governing the spatiotemporal dynamics of the film interface has been derived in the long-wave limit. Similar to the case of a single-frequency forcing considered in our earlier work, there exists a critical forcing amplitude below which the film undergoes a long-time capillary rupture typical for a static cylinder, whereas above it the film remains continuous. We find that it is possible to arrest the rupture even if the forcing parameters of each of the two components correspond separately to the domain where rupture takes place. It is shown that the critical forcing amplitude is easily determined via a single-frequency case when the two forcing frequencies are equal. In the case of different forcing amplitudes and frequencies, the variation of the critical forcing amplitude as a function of the frequency ratio exhibits a unique behavior displaying the emergence of spikes. A related case of an amplitude-modulated single-frequency forcing is also addressed here. For a sufficiently small frequency of the amplitude modulation, a significant increase of the pattern amplitude is observed. In the case of commensurate forcing frequencies, the flow is found to be quasiperiodic.

Nonlinear dynamics of a thin nonisothermal liquid film on an axially oscillating cylindrical surface

The nonlinear dynamics of a nonisothermal thin liquid film on a horizontal cylindrical surface subjected to axial harmonic vibration is investigated in this paper. It is found that the capillary instability of an axisymmetric film on a still cylinder can be saturated via the Marangoni effect by heating the film at the gas side, similar to the saturation of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in the planar case. If the capillary instability is not saturated by the Marangoni effect, the combined capillary-Marangoni instability can be saturated by the harmonic axial forcing provided that the forcing amplitude exceeds a certain critical value depending on the rest of parameters. The critical amplitude is demonstrated to increase with the Marangoni number when other parameters are fixed. The critical forcing amplitude at a given forcing frequency is shown to be well approximated by a piecewise linear function of the Marangoni number.

Oscillatory long-wave Marangoni convection in a layer of a binary liquid: hexagonal patterns

We consider a long-wave oscillatory Marangoni convection in a layer of a binary liquid in the presence of the Soret effect. A weakly nonlinear analysis is carried out on a hexagonal lattice. It is shown that the derived set of cubic amplitude equations is degenerate. A three-parameter family of asynchronous hexagons (AH), representing a superposition of three standing waves with the amplitudes depending on their phase shifts, is found to be stable in the framework of this set of equations. To determine a dominant stable pattern within this family of patterns, we proceed to the inclusion of the fifth-order terms. It is shown that depending on the Soret number, either wavy rolls 2 (WR2), which represents a pattern descendant of wavy rolls (WR) family, are selected or no stable limit cycles exist. A heteroclinic cycle emerges in the latter case: the system is alternately attracted to and repelled from each of three unstable solutions.

Dynamics of thin liquid films falling on vertical cylindrical surfaces subjected to ultrasound forcing

Axial ultrasound forcing applied to a vertical cylinder is shown to affect a gravity-driven flow of a thin liquid film on its outer surface. In the case of larger forcing amplitudes, we find that the film flow can be completely stopped.

Long-wave Marangoni instability in a binary liquid layer on a thick solid substrate

We consider a system which consists of a layer of an incompressible binary liquid with a deformable free surface, and a thick solid substrate subjected to a differential heating across it. We investigate the long-wave thermosolutal Marangoni instability in the case of asymptotically small Lewis and Galileo numbers for finite capillary and Biot numbers with the Soret effect taken into account. We find both long-wave monotonic and oscillatory modes of instability in various parameter domains of Biot and Soret numbers. In the domain of finite wave numbers the monotonic instability is found, but the minimum of the monotonic neutral curve is shown to be located in the long-wave region. A set of nonlinear evolution equations is derived for the description of the spatiotemporal dynamics of the oscillatory instability. The weakly nonlinear analysis is carried out for the monotonic instability.

Marangoni convection in binary mixtures

Marangoni instabilities in binary mixtures in the presence of the Soret effect and evaporation are different from those in pure liquids. In contrast to a large amount of experimental work on Marangoni convection in pure liquids, such experiments in binary mixtures are not available in the literature, to our knowledge. Using binary mixtures of NaCl/water in an open system, evaporation of water molecules at the liquid-vapor interface is inevitable. We have systematically investigated the pattern formation for a set of substrate temperatures and solute concentrations in an open system. The flow patterns evolve with time, driven by surface-tension fluctuations due to evaporation and the Soret effect, while the air-liquid interface does not deform. A shadow-graph method is used to follow the pattern formation in time. The patterns are mainly composed of polygons and rolls. The mean pattern size first decreases slightly, and then gradually increases during the evolution. Evaporation affects the pattern formation mainly at the early stages and the local evaporation rate tends to become spatially uniform at the film surface. The Soret effect becomes important at the later stages and affects the mixture for a large mean solute concentration where the Soret number is significantly above zero. The strength of convection increases with the initial solute concentration and the substrate temperature. Our findings differ from the theoretical predictions in which evaporation is neglected.

Lipopolysaccharide hyporesponsiveness as a risk factor for intensive care unit hospitalization in infants with respiratory syncitial virus bronchiolitis

Factors such as genetic heterogeneity in the immune response contribute to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) bronchiolitis severity. Such heterogeneity may manifest by an aberrant proliferation of phytohaemagglutinin (PHA)-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The proliferation of PBMC was analysed in 52 infants: 21 ambulatory infants with mild RSV bronchiolitis (group I), 26 hospitalized infants with RSV bronchiolitis on ward (group II) and five intensive care unit (ICU) hospitalized infants (group III). Proliferation was analysed in response to negative control, PHA (LPS) and LPS/PHA. The TLR4 mutations were genotyped using reverse-transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. The optical density (OD) post-LPS/PHA of group II (1.27 +/- 0.63) was significantly higher than group II (0.65 +/- 0.38, P = 0.005) or group I (0.63 +/- 0.33, P = 0.003), suggesting hyporesponsiveness to the LPS attenuation effect. None of the ICU hospitalized infants demonstrated OD readings post-LPS/PHA under the 0.75 threshold as opposed to group I (67% under 0.75) and group II (69%) (P < 0.05). The responses to negative-control, LPS and PHA stimulation alone were similar across groups. The presence of TLR4 mutations (Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile) were associated with severe RSV bronchiolitis and were significantly over-represented in groups II and III. These findings suggest that impairments of PBMC function manifested by hyporesponsiveness to LPS as well as the presence of TLR4 mutations are associated with an increased risk for more severe RSV bronchiolitis in previously healthy infants. A certain threshold of LPS hyporesponsiveness may have a very high negative predictive value for ICU hospitalization, even better than the determination of known TLR4 mutations for this purpose.

Development of a tissue-engineered composite implant for treating traumatic paraplegia in rats

This study was designed to assess a new composite implant to induce regeneration of injured spinal cord in paraplegic rats following complete cord transection. Neuronal xenogeneic cells from biopsies of adult nasal olfactory mucosa (NOM) of human origin, or spinal cords of human embryos, were cultured in two consecutive stages: stationary cultures in a viscous semi-solid gel (NVR-N-Gel) and in suspension on positively charged microcarriers (MCs). A tissue-engineered tubular scaffold, containing bundles of parallel nanofibers, was developed. Both the tube and the nanofibers were made of a biodegradable dextran sulphate-gelatin co-precipitate. The suturable scaffold anchored the implant at the site of injury and provided guidance for the regenerating axons. Implants of adult human NOM cells were implanted into eight rats, from which a 4 mm segment of the spinal cord had been completely removed. Another four rats whose spinal cords had also been transected were implanted with a composite implant of cultured human embryonic spinal cord cells. Eight other cord-transected rats served as a control group. Physiological and behavioral analysis, performed 3 months after implantation, revealed partial recovery of function in one or two limbs in three out of eight animals of the NOM implanted group and in all the four rats that were implanted with cultured human embryonic spinal cord cells. Animals of the control group remained completely paralyzed and did not show transmission of stimuli to the brain. The utilization of an innovative composite implant to bridge a gap resulting from the transection and removal of a 4 mm spinal cord segment shows promise, suggesting the feasibility of this approach for partial reconstruction of spinal cord lesions. Such an implant may serve as a vital bridging station in acute and chronic cases of paraplegia.

Long-wavelength thermocapillary instability with the Soret effect

We study the onset of Marangoni instability of the quiescent equilibrium in a binary liquid layer with a nondeformable interface in the presence of the Soret effect. Linear stability analysis shows that both monotonic and oscillatory long-wavelength instabilities are possible depending on the value of the Soret number chi. Sets of long-wavelength nonlinear evolution equations are derived for both types of instability. Bifurcation analyses reveal that in the regime of monotonic instability square patterns bifurcate supercritically and they are preferred in competition with roll patterns. Hexagonal patterns bifurcate transcritically and the condition for the emergence of steady stable hexagonal patterns is derived. In the case of oscillatory instability, traveling and standing waves are found to bifurcate supercritically in the narrow range of the Soret parameter and traveling waves are found to become the selected type of flow.

Short commentary: Theory of thin liquid films: some questions and challenges

Various issues related to the theory of thin liquid films, such as emergence of non-ruptured steady states, validation of longwave theory and models for change of phase are discussed.

Attenuation of infarct size in rats and dogs after myocardial infarction by low-energy laser irradiation

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

The aim of the present study was to investigate the possibility that low-energy laser irradiation attenuates infarct size formation after induction of chronic myocardial infarction (MI) in small and large experimental animals.

STUDY DESIGN/MATERIALS AND METHODS

Laser irradiation was applied to the infarcted area of rats and dogs at various power densities (2.5 to 20 mW/cm(2)) after occlusion of the coronary artery.

RESULTS

In infarcted laser-irradiated rats that received laser irradiation immediately and 3 days after MI at energy densities of 2.5, 6, and 20 mW/cm(2), there was a 14%, 62% (significant; P < 0.05), and 2.8% reduction of infarct size (14 days after MI) relative to non--laser-irradiated rats, respectively. In dogs, a 49% (significant; P < 0.01) reduction of infarct size was achieved.

CONCLUSION

The results of the present study indicate that delivery of low-energy laser irradiation to infarcted myocardium in rats and dogs has a profound effect on the infarct size after MI.

Low-energy laser irradiation reduces formation of scar tissue after myocardial infarction in rats and dogs

BACKGROUND

Low-energy laser irradiation (LELI) has been found to attenuate various biological processes in tissue culture and experimental animal models. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of LELI on the formation of scar tissue in experimentally induced chronic infarct in rats and dogs.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Myocardial infarction (MI) was induced in 50 dogs and 26 rats by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery. After induction of MI, the laser-irradiated (LI) group received laser irradiation (infrared laser, 803-nm wavelength) epicardially. Control MI-induced non-laser irradiated (NLI) dogs were sham-operated, and laser was not applied. All dogs were euthanized at 5 to 6 weeks after MI. Infarct size was determined by TTC staining and histology. The laser treatment (P:<0.05) lowered mortality significantly, from 30% to 6.5%, after induction of MI. The infarct size in the LI dogs was reduced significantly (P:<0.0001) (52%) compared with NLI dogs. Histological observation of the infarct revealed a typical scar tissue in NLI dogs and cellularity in most of the LI dogs. Only 14+/-3% of the mitochondria in the cardiomyocytes in the ischemic zone (4 hours after MI) of LI MI-induced rats were severely damaged, compared with 36+/-1% in NLI rats. Accordingly, ATP content in that zone was 7.6-fold (significantly) higher in LI than in NLI rats.

CONCLUSIONS

Our observations indicate that epicardial LELI of rat and dog hearts after chronic MI caused a marked reduction in infarct size, probably due to a cardioprotective effect of the LELI.

Conservation of circulation in magnetohydrodynamics

We demonstrate at both the Newtonian and (general) relativistic levels the existence of a generalization of Kelvin's circulation theorem (for pure fluids) that is applicable to perfect magnetohydrodynamics. The argument is based on the least action principle for magnetohydrodynamic flow. Examples of the new conservation law are furnished. The new theorem should be helpful in identifying new kinds of vortex phenomena distinct from magnetic ropes or fluid vortices.

Three-dimensional nonlinear dynamics of thin liquid films

Three-dimensional dynamics of thin Newtonian liquid films subjected to long-range van der Waals forces on a horizontal coated solid surface is numerically studied in the framework of the long-wave theory. The dynamics of nonvolatile films results in the emergence of an isolated steady drop standing on a practically flat film, while volatile films uniformly disappear on the macroscale. In both cases the evolution of the initial small-amplitude noise spans over the stages of self-organization, fast thinning of the depressions, formation and expansion of the "holes," emergence of the polygonal network of liquid ridges, and its breakup, as seen in the experiments.

Higher than expected carrier rates for familial Mediterranean fever in various Jewish ethnic groups

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autosomal recessive disease characterised by recurrent attacks of inflammation of serosal membranes. Amyloidosis leading to renal failure is the most severe complication in untreated patients. In Israel FMF is most frequent among Jews of North African origin. Recently the causative gene (MEFV) has been found and the common mutations characterised. The aim of this study was to investigate the carrier rates of the common MEFV mutations among 400 healthy members of four different ethnic groups (100 in each group) in Israel, and to compare the distribution of the different mutations between FMF carriers and patients. We found a high frequency of carriers among Jews from the various ethnic groups. In North African Jews it was 22%, in Iraqi Jews 39%, in Ashkenazi Jews 21%, and in Iranian Jews 6%. The distribution of the four most common MEFV mutations among healthy individuals (M694V 29%, V726A 16%, M6801 2% and E148Q 53%) was significantly different (P < 0.003) from that found in patients (M694V 84.4%, V726A 9.0%, M6801 0% and E148Q 6.6%). Six healthy asymptomatic individuals were found to carry mutations in both alleles: two homozygotes for E148Q and four compound heterozygotes E148Q/other. These results demonstrate a very high carrier rate among all Jewish ethnic groups. They confirm that mutation E148Q is associated with a milder phenotype, which explains the lower prevalence of FMF among the Ashkenazi and Iraqi Jews. This study raises the question of the need for molecular screening for M694V homozygotes in the Israeli North African Jewish community.

Dewetting of a Heated Surface by an Evaporating Liquid Film under Conjoining/Disjoining Pressures

In the present work we consider a model for the evolution of a thin nonpolar liquid film on a coated solid surface under the action of attractive and repulsive molecular forces governed by a 3-4 power-law potential, rather than the Lennard-Jones 3-9 potential employed for an ideal plane interface (molecularly clean and smooth). The model is used for both volatile and nonvolatile isothermal liquid films. It is shown that in the nonvolatile case the evolution results in the emergence of static steady states consisting of liquid ridges separated by very thin films. A supercritical bifurcation from the trivial state is shown to be possible in the presence of repulsive forces, while in the presence of only attractive forces the bifurcation is subcritical. In the evaporative case the long-time evolution of the film is shown to lead to its flattening and then to its apparent vanishing. Several scenarios for the film disappearance are found. A relationship between the rate of expansion of the dry spot and the apparent contact angle is examined. The effect of thermocapillarity on the film evolution is also considered. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.