A high-throughput chaotic advection microreactor for preparation of uniform and aggregated barium sulfate nanoparticles

A high-throughput (105.5 g/h) passive four-stage asymmetric oscillating feedback microreactor using chaotic mixing mechanism was developed to prepare aggregated Barium sulfate (BaSO₄) particles of high primary nanoparticle size uniformity. Three-dimensional unsteady simulations showed that chaotic mixing could be induced by three unique secondary flows (i.e., vortex, recirculation, and oscillation), and the fluid oscillation mechanism was examined in detail. Simulations and Villermaux–Dushman experiments indicate that almost complete mixing down to molecular level can be achieved and the prepared BaSO₄ nanoparticles were with narrow primary particle size distribution (PSD) having geometric standard deviation, σ_g, less than 1.43 when the total volumetric flow rate Q_total was larger than 10 ml/min. By selecting Q_total and reactant concentrations, average primary particle size can be controlled from 23 to 109 nm as determined by microscopy. An average size of 26 nm with narrow primary PSD (σ_g = 1.22) could be achieved at Q_total of 160 ml/min.     

Crystalline lens thickness change is associated with axial length elongation and myopia progression in orthokeratology

AimsConsidering individual variability in regards to the effects of orthokeratology (ortho-k) on myopia progression and controversies regarding the precise underlying mechanism, the aim of this study was to investigate several ocular measurements associated with axial length (AL) growth in children wearing ortho-k lenses.MethodsIn this retrospective chart review, medical records of 53 Chinese children who wore ortho-k lenses over the course of 12 months were reviewed. Baseline variables included age at initiation of ortho-k wear, refractive error (spherical equivalent, SE), central corneal thickness (CCT), and flat and steep keratometry of corneal principal meridians. The change of anterior chamber depth (ACD) and the change of crystalline lens thickness (CLT) between baseline and the 12-month follow-up were also analyzed. The contributions of all analyzed variables to AL change were assessed using univariate and multivariate regression analyses.ResultsInitially, the results of paired t-test showed that CLT and AL were significantly increased after 12 months of ortho-k wear compared with that at baseline (P = 0.001 and < 0.001). The ACD did not change significantly after 12 months compared with that at baseline (P = 0.491). Subsequently, univariate analyses showed that a reduced rate of AL elongation was found in children who were older age at initiation of ortho-k wear (P = 0.028), had greater SE (higher degree of myopia) at baseline (p = 0.006), had thicker CCT at baseline (P = 0.04), and had greater increase of CLT (P = 0.001) in 12 months. At last, only greater SE (higher degree of myopia) and greater increase of CLT were associated with smaller increases of AL in multivariable analyses, (P = 0.003 and 0.001).ConclusionsBoth CLT and AL were significantly increased in children with overnight ortho-k wear after 12 months of follow-up. Greater baseline SE and greater increase of CLT were associated with less increase in AL during ortho-k wear in children with myopia.     

含不凝性气体蒸汽浸没射流冷凝压力振荡实验研究

实验研究了不凝性气体（空气）含量、水温和蒸汽质量流速对蒸汽浸没射流冷凝压力振荡特性的影响，实验工况横跨冷凝振荡（CO）区和稳定冷凝（SC）区。结果表明：对于纯蒸汽射流，压力振荡主频随水温的升高而降低，振荡强度随水温的升高而升高；在CO区，振荡主频和振荡强度均随蒸汽质量流速的升高而升高；在SC区，振荡主频随蒸汽质量流速的升高而降低，振荡强度基本上不随蒸汽质量流速的变化而发生改变；对于含空气射流，随空气质量分数的增加，振荡主频总体呈下降趋势，振荡强度先迅速下降后小幅上升，在空气质量分数为0.05～0.1区域内振荡主频和振荡强度均存在极小值。     

Astrocyte Ca2+ Waves and Subsequent Non-Synchronized Ca2+ Oscillations Coincide with Arteriole Diameter Changes in Response to Spreading Depolarization

Spreading depolarization (SD) is a wave of mass depolarization that causes profound perfusion changes in acute cerebrovascular diseases. Although the astrocyte response is secondary to the neuronal depolarization with SD, it remains to be explored how glial activity is altered after the passage of SD. Here, we describe post-SD high frequency astrocyte Ca²⁺ oscillations in the mouse somatosensory cortex. The intracellular Ca²⁺ changes of SR101 labeled astrocytes and the SD-related arteriole diameter variations were simultaneously visualized by multiphoton microscopy in anesthetized mice. Post-SD astrocyte Ca²⁺ oscillations were identified as Ca²⁺ events non-synchronized among astrocytes in the field of view. Ca²⁺ oscillations occurred minutes after the Ca²⁺ wave of SD. Furthermore, fewer astrocytes were involved in Ca²⁺ oscillations at a given time, compared to Ca²⁺ waves, engaging all astrocytes in the field of view simultaneously. Finally, our data confirm that astrocyte Ca²⁺ waves coincide with arteriolar constriction, while post-SD Ca²⁺ oscillations occur with the peak of the SD-related vasodilation. This is the first in vivo study to present the post-SD astrocyte Ca²⁺ oscillations. Our results provide novel insight into the spatio-temporal correlation between glial reactivity and cerebral arteriole diameter changes behind the SD wavefront.     

撞击流反应器撞击面稳定性研究进展

撞击流技术因其良好的混合特性近些年用于强化制备超细粉体反应中的混合过程。撞击面的稳定影响反应器内的混合效果，所以本文对撞击面稳定性的研究进行了综述。撞击流反应器不同结构形式包括平面撞击流、轴对称撞击流和微型撞击流等。文中简述了撞击流稳定性的实验研究手段，分析轴对称撞击流反应器的径向偏转振荡的起止条件和不同喷嘴间距下的轴向偏移振荡规律，并且分析平面撞击流反应器的撞击面偏转周期以及偏转振荡的起止条件。得出轴对称撞击流与平面撞击流撞击面驻点的振荡对混合都有促进作用，并且偏移振荡周期不定，轴对称撞击面偏移振幅与喷嘴间距和雷诺数相关。平面撞击流的偏转振荡周期与进口流速成反比，反应器结构参数是撞击流稳定性的影响因素之一。根据轴对称撞击流偏移振荡对混合的促进作用，本文提出一种新型的预设流量波形双组撞击流反应器。新型撞击流反应器的独特结构克服了物料反应通道单一缺点，通过预设波形控制其进口流量，增大其撞击面偏移振幅，消除撞击面无序振荡，使流动轨迹扩展，扩大混合区域，并设计实验装置与方法讨论动态流量撞击流反应器撞击面稳定性对混合效果的影响。最后，本文对轴对称撞击流反应器的混合性能研究前景进行展望。     

Structure of turbulent rich hydrogen‐air premixed flames

In the present article, series of experiments were conducted to study the structure characteristics of premixed flames in turbulent rich hydrogen‐air mixtures within a constant‐volume turbulent combustion system, 7 equivalence ratios (1.2, 1.4, 1.6, 1.8, 2.0, 2.2, and 2.5), and 5 turbulent intensity (0, 0.494, 0.742, 1.080, and 1.309 m/s) were studied. With the increase of turbulent intensity, the cellularity degree was obviously enhanced for turbulence promoted the formation and the development of initial cracks by wrinkling flame‐front; furthermore, the enhanced hydrodynamic instability was also one important reason. Turbulence would change the linear growth of critical radius to equivalence ratio into nonlinear, but the variation extents had limitation. The wrinkling index of flame‐front would rise as flame expanded, and the wrinkling index on flames with similar size would be increased with the increase of turbulence once the turbulent intensity was sufficiently high. From the variations of the root mean square of related oscillation on flame‐front, it could be found that the partial amount of oscillation induced by sole turbulence was declined as flame expanded for the breakup of large eddies.     

Ultrasonic tomographic velocimeter for visualization of axial flow fields in pipes

An ultrasonic tomographic velocimeter to provide quantitative images of axial flow fields in pipes is developed and presented in this work. To detect the flow in various directions and positions, a novel transducer configuration strategy is proposed. All-in-one transducers are mounted in two sectional planes of the pipe. In each plane, N transducers are equally spaced along the circumference. Overlapped propagation paths are introduced by the configuration strategy, and the influence of the vortex flow can be eliminated theoretically by averaging the line velocities of the overlapped paths. To achieve a fast detection speed, the projection data is collected via an electrical scan in a fan-beam mode. After rearrangement and interpolation of the projection data, the parallel beam filtered back projection (FBP) algorithm is implemented to reconstruct the axial flow field. Numerical simulations with the theoretical velocity profiles were performed. The compensation method for the vortex flow is proved to be effective and necessary, and the number of transducers required for reconstruction of common flow profiles was estimated. Accordingly, an ultrasonic tomographic velocimeter consisting of 2×12 transducers was fabricated. Experiments were conducted in the straight pipe and downstream of a single bend pipe and compared with the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation results. As demonstrated, the ultrasonic tomographic velocimeter was capable of visualizing both symmetric and asymmetric axial flow fields with high reliability.     

Experimental study on the propagation characteristics of hydrogen/methane/air premixed flames in a narrow channel

This work is focused on the explosion characteristics of premixed gas containing different volume fractions of hydrogen in a narrow channel (1000 mm × 50 mm × 10 mm) under the circumstance of stoichiometric ratio. The ignition positions were set in the closed end and the middle of the pipeline respectively. The results showed that when the gas was ignited at the pipeline closed end, the propagating flame was tulip structure for different premixed gas. When the hydrogen volume fraction was less than 40%, the flame propagation speed increased significantly with the rise of hydrogen volume fraction, and the overpressure peak also appeared obviously in advance. However, when the volume fraction of hydrogen was more than 40%, the increase of flame propagation speed and the overpressure peak occurrence time varied slightly. Furthermore, when the ignition position was placed in the middle of the pipeline, the flame propagation speed propagating to the opening end was much faster than that propagating to the closing end, and there was no tulip shape when the flame propagates to the opening end. The flame propagating to the closed end appeared tulip shape under the influence of airflow, and high-frequency flame oscillation occurred during the propagation. This work shows that the hydrogen volume fraction and ignition position significantly affected the flame structure, flame front speed, and explosion overpressure.     

Evolution of elastic behavior of alite paste at early hydration stages

Elastic behavior is an important aspect of fresh cement-based materials. In this paper, the elasticity development of fresh pure alite paste within 5 hours was monitored in situ by small amplitude oscillation shear. Isothermal microcalorimetry, X-ray diffraction, scanning electronic microscopy, ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance, zeta potential measurements were used to investigate the underlying mechanisms. It was found that the evolution of storage modulus can be characterized by three different stages. The first stage stems from the compression of electrical double layer and the slight increase of solid volume fraction; the second stage is only controlled by the colloidal interaction; and the third stage is associated to the significant growth of solid volume fraction, the enhancement of short-range attraction and the rigidification of calcium silicate hydrate (CSH) network. Moreover, the relationship between the formation of CSH and the growth of elasticity was also quantified.