CFD as a tool in risk assessment of inhaled radon progenies

During the last decade, computational fluid dynamics techniques proved to be a powerful tool in the modelling of biological processes and the design of biomedical devices. In this work, a computational fluid dynamics method was applied to model the transport of inhaled air and radioactive particles within the human respiratory tract. A finite volume numerical approach was used to compute the flow field characteristics and particle trajectories in the lumen of the first five airway generations of the human tracheobronchial tree, leading to the right upper lobe. The computations were performed for breathing and exposure conditions characteristic of uranium mines and homes. Primary radon daughter deposition patterns and energy distributions were computed, exhibiting highly inhomogeneous particle and energy deposition patterns. The results of the present modelling effort can serve as input data in lung cancer risk analysis.     

Composite graphitic nanolayers prepared by self-assembly between finely dispersed graphite oxide and a cationic polymer

Chemical flaking of graphite has been performed by reacting natural graphite with a strong oxidizing agent, NaClO₃/HNO₃. The formed hydrophilic, negatively charged graphite oxide (GO) colloids can be dispersed in water which allows the deposition of thin GO/cationic polymer (poly(diallyldimethylammoniumchloride, PDDA) multilayer films on a glass substrate by wet-chemical self-assembly. The feasibility of the charge-regulated layer-by-layer deposition is demonstrated by mutual charge titrations of the film-forming species. Visible-light spectroscopy revealed progressive growth of the film thickness with the number of deposition of steps, while XRD and AFM showed that partially exfoliated, highly anisometric (aspect ratio >50) graphite oxide platelet aggregates were deposited with an average thickness of the stacked graphite oxide platelets of 10 carbon layers (7.4 nm). Reduction of multilayer assemblies of GO and PDDA on glass yielded a non-conductive turbostratic carbon nanofilm. The original, conductive graphite-like structure was restored by reduction with N₂H₄ and annealing at 400 °C which, by gradual ordering of the carbon crystallites, caused a significant decrease in the resistivity.     

Quasi-superactivation of classical capacity of zero-capacity quantum channels

One of the most surprising recent results in quantum Shannon theory is the superactivation of the quantum capacity of a quantum channel. This phenomenon has its roots in the extreme violation of additivity of the channel capacity and enables reliable transmission of quantum information over zero-capacity quantum channels. In this work we demonstrate a similar effect for the classical capacity of a quantum channel which previously was thought to be impossible. We show that a nonzero classical capacity can be achieved for all zero-capacity quantum channels and it only requires the assistance of an elementary photon–atom interaction process – stimulated emission.     

Versatile Macroscale Concentration Gradients of Nanoparticles in Soft Nanocomposites

Nanocomposite materials benefit from the diverse physicochemical properties featured by nanoparticles, and the presence of nanoparticle concentration gradients can lend functions to macroscopic materials beyond the realm of classical nanocomposites. It is shown here that linearity and time‐shift invariance obtained via the synergism of two independent physical phenomena—translational self‐diffusion and shear‐driven dispersion—may give access to an exceptionally high degree of flexibility in the design of scalable and programmable long‐range concentration gradients of nanoparticles in solidifiable liquid matrices.