95 research outputs found
Monitoring of liquid flow through microtubes using a micropressure sensor
The pressure-driven liquid flow through microtubes was studied in a range of very low Reynolds numbers (<0.15) by monitoring the pressure change in situ. Cylindrical microtubes with diameters ranging from 50 ?m to 500 ?m were examined and two types of tube material, namely PEEK polymer and fused silica were compared. A good linear relation for the pressure drop versus flow rate was obtained. Apparent deviations between the measured slopes with those calculated using conventional theory were attributed to uncertainties in the calculated values which are dominated by the uncertainties in the microtube diameters. It was found that a period of stabilisation time was required for reaching a steady flow after the syringe pump was switched on/off or to a different flow rate. The stabilisation time was likely due to the compressibility of the fluid. Insignificant difference between PEEK polymer and fused silica microtubes in terms of flow resistance was observed. The in-situ measurement of pressure drops provides a convenient approach for monitoring fluid flow through microtubes and detecting dimensional changes within microchannels in Lab-on-a-Chip and microreactor systems
Synergistic antibacterial effects of theaflavin in combination with ampicillin against hospital isolates of Stenotrophomonas Maltophilia
Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an important opportunistic nosocomial pathogen that shows intrinsic resistance to many antibiotics. This often limits treatment options and can cause lengthy hospital stays. Combination treatments are often used to combat resistance and using natural compounds such as polyphenols could give increased treatment options and even the reuse of antibiotics to which high levels of resistance have been observed. A checkerboard assay was used to determine if any synergy exists between ampicillin and the polyphenol theaflavin against 9 clinical isolates and one control isolate (NCTC 13014) of S. maltophilia. It was discovered that significant synergy (P 0.05) does exist between theaflavin and ampicillin, reducing the mean MIC of ampicillin from 12.5-22.9 µg/mL, in liquid culture, to 3.125-6.25 µg/mL. The FIC index was calculated to be 0.22-0.35 confirming synergy. From these results, significant potential for medical applications can be seen and further investigation is recommended
Comprehensive simulations of superhumps
(Abridged) We use 3D SPH calculations with higher resolution, as well as with
more realistic viscosity and sound-speed prescriptions than previous work to
examine the eccentric instability which underlies the superhump phenomenon in
semi-detached binaries. We illustrate the importance of the two-armed spiral
mode in the generation of superhumps. Differential motions in the fluid disc
cause converging flows which lead to strong spiral shocks once each superhump
cycle. The dissipation associated with these shocks powers the superhump. We
compare 2D and 3D results, and conclude that 3D simulations are necessary to
faithfully simulate the disc dynamics. We ran our simulations for unprecedented
durations, so that an eccentric equilibrium is established except at high mass
ratios where the growth rate of the instability is very low. Our improved
simulations give a closer match to the observed relationship between superhump
period excess and binary mass ratio than previous numerical work. The observed
black hole X-ray transient superhumpers appear to have systematically lower
disc precession rates than the cataclysmic variables. This could be due to
higher disc temperatures and thicknesses. The modulation in total viscous
dissipation on the superhump period is overwhelmingly from the region of the
disc within the 3:1 resonance radius. As the eccentric instability develops,
the viscous torques are enhanced, and the disc consequently adjusts to a new
equilibrium state, as suggested in the thermal-tidal instability model. We
quantify this enhancement in the viscosity, which is ~10 per cent for q=0.08.
We characterise the eccentricity distributions in our accretion discs, and show
that the entire body of the disc partakes in the eccentricity.Comment: 18 pages (mn2e LaTeX), 14 figures, 5 tables, Accepted for publication
in MNRA
Simulations of spectral lines from an eccentric precessing accretion disc
Two dimensional SPH simulations of a precessing accretion disc in a q=0.1
binary system (such as XTE J1118+480) reveal complex and continuously varying
shape, kinematics, and dissipation. The stream-disc impact region and disc
spiral density waves are prominent sources of energy dissipation.The dissipated
energy is modulated on the period P_{sh} = ({P_{orb}}^{-1}-{P_{prec}}^{-1}^{-1}
with which the orientation of the disc relative to the mass donor repeats. This
superhump modulation in dissipation energy has a variation in amplitude of ~10%
relative to the total dissipation energy and evolves, repeating exactly only
after a full disc precession cycle. A sharp component in the light curve is
associated with centrifugally expelled material falling back and impacting the
disc. Synthetic trailed spectrograms reveal two distinct "S-wave" features,
produced respectively by the stream gas and the disc gas at the stream-disc
impact shock. These S-waves are non-sinusoidal, and evolve with disc precession
phase. We identify the spiral density wave emission in the trailed spectrogram.
Instantaneous Doppler maps show how the stream impact moves in velocity space
during an orbit. In our maximum entropy Doppler tomogram the stream impact
region emission is distorted, and the spiral density wave emission is
uppressed. A significant radial velocity modulation of the whole line profile
occurs on the disc precession period. We compare our SPH simulation with a
simple 3D model: the former is appropriate for comparison with emission lines
while the latter is preferable for skewed absorption lines from precessing
discs.Comment: See http://physics.open.ac.uk/FHMR/ for associated movie (avi) files.
The full paper is in MNRAS press. Limited disk space limit of 650k, hence low
resolution figure file
Antifungal synergy of theaflavin and epicatechin combinations against Candida albicans
New antifungal agents are required to compensate for the increase in resistance to standard antifungal agents of Candida albicans, which is an important opportunistic fungal pathogen that causes minor infections in many individuals but very serious infections in those who are immune-compromised. In this study, combinations of theaflavin and epicatechin are investigated as potential antifungal agents and also to establish whether antifungal synergy exists between these two readily accessible and cost-effective polyphenols isolated from black and green tea. The results of disc diffusion assays showed stronger antibacterial activity of theaflavin:epicatechin combinations against C. albicans NCTC 3255 and NCTC 3179, than that of theaflavin alone. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 1,024 μg/ml with theaflavin and 128-256 μg/ml with theaflavin:epicatechin combinations were found. The fractional inhibitory concentration indexes were calculated, and the synergy between theaflavin and epicatechin against both isolates of C. albicans was confirmed. Theaflavin:epicatechin combinations show real potential for future use as a treatment for infections caused by C. albicans
Microfluidic chromatography for early stage evaluation of biopharmaceutical binding and separation conditions
Optimization of separation conditions for biopharmaceuticals requires evaluation of a large number of process variables. To miniaturize this evaluation a microfluidic column (1.5 mu L volume and 1cm height) was fabricated and packed with a typical process scale resin. The device was assessed by comparison to a protein separation at conventional laboratory scale. This was based upon measurement of the quality of packing and generation of breakthrough and elution curves. Dynamic binding capacities from the microfluidic column compared well with the laboratory scale. Microfluidic scale gradient elution separations also equated to the laboratory column three orders of magnitude larger in scale
Development of a resin based silica monolithic column encapsulation
As monolithic columns become more extensively used in separation based applications due to their good flow and high surface characteristics, there has arisen the need to establish simple, reliable fabrication methods for fluidic coupling and sealing. In particular, the problem of liquid tracking between a monolith\u27s outer surface and the sealing wall, resulting in poor flow-through performance, needs to be addressed. This paper describes a novel resin-based encapsulation method that penetrates 0.3 mm into the outer surface of a 4 mm diameter monolith, removing the so-called wall-effect. Results based on the peak analysis from 1 μL of 0.4% thiourea injected into a 98:2 water:methanol mobile phase flowing at 1 mL min-1 indicate excellent flow conservation through the monolith. A comparison of peak shape and height equivalent to a theoretical plate (HETP) data between the reported resin-based method and the previously reported heat shrink tubing encapsulation methodology, for the same batch of monoliths, suggests the resin based method offers far superior flow characteristics. In addition to the improved flow properties, the resin casting method enables standard polyether ether ketone (PEEK) fittings to be moulded and subsequently unscrewed from the device offering simple reliable fluidic coupling to be achieved
The thermal emission of the exoplanets WASP-1b and WASP-2b
We present a comparative study of the thermal emission of the transiting
exoplanets WASP-1b and WASP-2b using the Spitzer Space Telescope. The two
planets have very similar masses but suffer different levels of irradiation and
are predicted to fall either side of a sharp transition between planets with
and without hot stratospheres. WASP-1b is one of the most highly irradiated
planets studied to date. We measure planet/star contrast ratios in all four of
the IRAC bands for both planets (3.6-8.0um), and our results indicate the
presence of a strong temperature inversion in the atmosphere of WASP-1b,
particularly apparent at 8um, and no inversion in WASP-2b. In both cases the
measured eclipse depths favor models in which incident energy is not
redistributed efficiently from the day side to the night side of the planet. We
fit the Spitzer light curves simultaneously with the best available radial
velocity curves and transit photometry in order to provide updated measurements
of system parameters. We do not find significant eccentricity in the orbit of
either planet, suggesting that the inflated radius of WASP-1b is unlikely to be
the result of tidal heating. Finally, by plotting ratios of secondary eclipse
depths at 8um and 4.5um against irradiation for all available planets, we find
evidence for a sharp transition in the emission spectra of hot Jupiters at an
irradiation level of 2 x 10^9 erg/s/cm^2. We suggest this transition may be due
to the presence of TiO in the upper atmospheres of the most strongly irradiated
hot Jupiters.Comment: 10 pages, submitted to Ap
Analytically useful blue chemiluminescence from a water-soluble iridium(iii) complex containing a tetraethylene glycol functionalised triazolylpyridine ligand
We examine [Ir(df-ppy)2(pt-TEG)](+) as the first highly water soluble, blue-luminescent iridium(iii) complex for chemiluminescence detection. Marked differences in selectivity were observed between the new complex and the conventional [Ru(bpy)3](2+) reagent, which will enable this mode of detection to be extended to new areas of application
Almost All of Kepler's Multiple Planet Candidates are Planets
We present a statistical analysis that demonstrates that the overwhelming
majority of Kepler candidate multiple transiting systems (multis) indeed
represent true, physically-associated transiting planets. Binary stars provide
the primary source of false positives among Kepler planet candidates, implying
that false positives should be nearly randomly-distributed among Kepler
targets. In contrast, true transiting planets would appear clustered around a
smaller number of Kepler targets if detectable planets tend to come in systems
and/or if the orbital planes of planets encircling the same star are
correlated. There are more than one hundred times as many Kepler planet
candidates in multi-candidate systems as would be predicted from a random
distribution of candidates, implying that the vast majority are true planets.
Most of these multis are multiple planet systems orbiting the Kepler target
star, but there are likely cases where (a) the planetary system orbits a
fainter star, and the planets are thus significantly larger than has been
estimated, or (b) the planets orbit different stars within a binary/multiple
star system. We use the low overall false positive rate among Kepler multis,
together with analysis of Kepler spacecraft and ground-based data, to validate
the closely-packed Kepler-33 planetary system, which orbits a star that has
evolved somewhat off of the main sequence. Kepler-33 hosts five transiting
planets with periods ranging from 5.67 to 41 days.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figure
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