Novel pillar formation in evaporating poly(ethylene oxide) droplets

Unlike the familiar “ring-stain" formed when spilt coffee drops are left to dry, liquids containing high molecular weight polymer molecules leave a range of other deposit pat terns. In this thesis I observe that aqueous solutions of the polymer poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) dries to form either the common coffee-ring stain, flat uniform “pancakes", or tall central “pillars". To investigate this phenomenon, I varied experimental factors including: atmospheric temperature, humidity and pressure; polymer molecular weight and concentration; water-ethanol solvent ratios; droplet volume, contact angle and inclination. These factors indicate a region in parameter-space in which central pillars form, favouring fast drying, low temperature, high contact angle, high concentration, high or low (but not intermediate) water-ethanol ratio, and intermediate molecular weight. I identify four stages in the pillar forming drying process, including a pseudo-dewetting liquid stage which appears to be driven by the formation of a contracting spherulite collar around the droplet's 3-phase contact line. If the liquid base radius recedes quickly enough compared with the height reducing effects of the evaporation, the growing solid deposit eventually lifts the droplet from the surface, resulting in the final central pillars. This is characterised by a minimum droplet volume when precipitation begins, above which the receding radius vanishes before the volume is lost to evaporation, resulting in tall central structures. Conversely, if the volume at the precipitation time is below this value, the height will reach zero during the pseudo-dewetting stage and the common coffee-ring stain is the result. I show that the dimensionless Péclet number Pe, which compares the relative effects of evaporation and diffusion on the polymer motion, successfully predicts the precipitation time and thus the final deposit shape. To incorporate the effect of molecular weight into our understanding, a further parameter of liquid phase resistance to the contracting collar at high viscosities is introduced

Classifying dynamic contact line modes in drying drops

Although the evaporation mode of sessile droplets is almost universally characterized as either constant contact radius (CCR) or constant contact angle (CCA), here we investigate two alternatives where the contact line speed is either constant or inversely proportional to the droplet radius. We present supporting evidence from our experiments on poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) polymer solutions and blood, and from literature on pure and binary liquids, colloidal suspensions, soft substrates, reactive dewetting and hole nucleation. We introduce the use of novel “clock-drop” images to visualize droplet evolution and dimensionless height–radius plots to characterize the evaporative pathways. Combining these with a simple scaling argument, we show that receding speed is inversely proportional to the three-phase contact radius R, with a constant of proportionality A, which is dependent on the drying conditions and drop shape, but independent of drop volume. We have shown that this is equivalent to a linear decrease in contact area with time. By varying only A, which we achieved experimentally by choosing solutions whose precipitate constricts after deposition, the evaporation mode can be altered continuously to include the two established modes CCR and CCA, and two new modes which we term “slowly receding” and “rapidly receding”, which are characterised by fully dried “doughnut” and “pillar” deposits respectively

Imaging internal flows in a drying sessile polymer dispersion drop using Spectral Radar Optical Coherence Tomography (SR-OCT)

In this work, we present the visualization of the internal flows in a drying sessile polymer dispersion drop on hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces with Spectral Radar Optical Coherence Tomography (SR-OCT).We have found that surface features such as the initial contact angle and pinning of the contact line, play a crucial role on the flow direction and final shape of the dried drop. Moreover, imaging through selection of vertical slices using optical coherence tomography offers a feasible alternative compared to imaging through selection of narrow horizontal slices using confocal microscopy for turbid, barely transparent fluids

Topological stabilization and dynamics of self-propelling nematic shells

Liquid shells (e.g., double emulsions, vesicles, etc.) are susceptible to interfacial instability and rupturing when driven out of mechanical equilibrium. This poses a significant challenge for the design of liquid-shell-based micromachines, where the goal is to maintain stability and dynamical control in combination with motility. Here, we present our solution to this problem with controllable self-propelling liquid shells, which we have stabilized using the soft topological constraints imposed by a nematogen oil. We demonstrate, through experiments and simulations, that anisotropic elasticity can counterbalance the destabilizing effect of viscous drag induced by shell motility and inhibit rupturing. We analyze their propulsion dynamics and identify a peculiar meandering behavior driven by a combination of topological and chemical spontaneously broken symmetries. Based on our understanding of these symmetry breaking mechanisms, we provide routes to control shell motion via topology, chemical signaling, and hydrodynamic interactions

Transcriptional profiling of eosinophil subsets in interleukin-5 transgenic mice

Eosinophils are important in fighting parasitic infections and are implicated in the pathogenesis of asthma and allergy. IL-5 is a critical regulator of eosinophil development, controlling proliferation, differentiation, and maturation of the lineage. Mice that constitutively express IL-5 have in excess of 10-fold more eosinophils in the hematopoietic organs than their wild type (WT) counterparts. We have identified that much of this expansion is in a population of Siglec-F high eosinophils, which are rare in WT mice. In this study, we assessed transcription in myeloid progenitors, eosinophil precursors, and Siglec-F medium and Siglec-F high eosinophils from IL-5 transgenic mice and in doing so have created a useful resource for eosinophil biologists. We have then utilized these populations to construct an eosinophil trajectory based on gene expression and to identify gene sets that are associated with eosinophil lineage progression. Cell cycle genes were significantly associated with the trajectory, and we experimentally demonstrate an increasing trend toward quiescence along the trajectory. Additionally, we found gene expression changes associated with constitutive IL-5 signaling in eosinophil progenitors, many of which were not observed in eosinophils

Geodesic motion in the Kundt spacetimes and the character of envelope singularity

We investigate geodesics in specific Kundt type N (or conformally flat) solutions to Einstein's equations. Components of the curvature tensor in parallelly transported tetrads are then explicitly evaluated and analyzed. This elucidates some interesting global properties of the spacetimes, such as an inherent rotation of the wave-propagation direction, or the character of singularities. In particular, we demonstrate that the characteristic envelope singularity of the rotated wave-fronts is a (non-scalar) curvature singularity, although all scalar invariants of the Riemann tensor vanish there.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figures. To appear in Class. Quantum Gra

State trust in middle childhood: an experimental manipulation of maternal support

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Academic Performance and Behavioral Patterns

Identifying the factors that influence academic performance is an essential part of educational research. Previous studies have documented the importance of personality traits, class attendance, and social network structure. Because most of these analyses were based on a single behavioral aspect and/or small sample sizes, there is currently no quantification of the interplay of these factors. Here, we study the academic performance among a cohort of 538 undergraduate students forming a single, densely connected social network. Our work is based on data collected using smartphones, which the students used as their primary phones for two years. The availability of multi-channel data from a single population allows us to directly compare the explanatory power of individual and social characteristics. We find that the most informative indicators of performance are based on social ties and that network indicators result in better model performance than individual characteristics (including both personality and class attendance). We confirm earlier findings that class attendance is the most important predictor among individual characteristics. Finally, our results suggest the presence of strong homophily and/or peer effects among university students

Measuring Anxiety in Youth with Learning Disabilities: Reliability and Validity of the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC)

Youth with learning disabilities (LD) are at an increased risk for anxiety disorders and valid measures of anxiety are necessary for assessing this population. We investigated the psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC; March in Multidimensional anxiety scale for children. Multi-Health Systems, North Tonawanda, 1998) in 41 adolescents (ages 11– 17 years) with LD. Youth and parents completed the MASC and were administered the semi-structured Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule: Child and Parent Versions (ADIS: C/P; Silverman and Albano in The Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV-Child and Parent Versions. Psychological Corporation, San Antonio, 1996). Results found that child and parent reports of Social Anxiety on the MASC closely corresponded with ADIS-generated social phobia diagnoses, and parent total scores discriminated well among youth with and without any anxiety disorder. A multi-method multi-trait matrix provided evidence of the construct validity of the MASC total score for both parent and child reports. Our findings provide empirical evidence that parent and child versions of the MASC are useful for assessing anxiety in youth with LD