Boundary condition and fuel composition effects on injection processes of high-pressure sprays at the microscopic level

Detailed imaging of n-dodecane and ethanol sprays injected in a constant-flow, high-pressure, high-temperature optically accessible chamber was per-formed. High-speed, diffused back-illuminated long-distance microscopy was used to resolve the spray structure in the near-nozzle field. The effect of injection and ambient pressures, as well as fuel temperature and composition have been studied through measurements of the spray penetration rates, hydraulic delays and spreading angles. Additional information such as transient flow velocities have been extracted from the measurements and compared to a control-volume spray model. The analysis demonstrated the influence of outlet flow on spray development with lower penetration velocities and wider spreading angles during the transients (start and end of injection) than during the quasi-steady period of the injection. The effect of fuel com-position on penetration was limited, while spreading angle measurements showed wider sprays for ethanol. In contrast, varying fuel temperature led to varying penetration velocities, while spreading angle remained constant during the quasi-steady period of the injection. Fuel temperature affected injector performance, with shorter delays as fuel temperature was increased. The comparisons between predicted and measured penetration rates showed differences suggesting that the transient behavior of the spreading angle of the sprays modified spray development significantly in the near-field. The reasonable agreement between predicted and measured flow velocity at and after the end of injection suggested that the complete mixing assumptions made by the model were valid in the near nozzle region during this period, when injected flow velocities are reduced.The authors wish to thank Chris Carlen from Sandia National Laboratories for designing and manufacturing specific ultra-fast LEDs, as well as Jose Enrique del Rey and Juan Pablo Viera from CMT-Motores Termicos for their support during the experiments. Support for the research carried out by Julien Manin at CMT-Motores Termicos was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Vehicle Technologies. Sandia is a multi-program laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company for the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.Manin, J.; Bardi, M.; Pickett, LM.; Payri Marín, R. (2016). Boundary condition and fuel composition effects on injection processes of high-pressure sprays at the microscopic level. International Journal of Multiphase Flow. 83:267-278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmultiphaseflow.2015.12.001S2672788

Development of a standardized and validated flow cytometry approach for monitoring of innate myeloid immune cells in human blood

Innate myeloid cell (IMC) populations form an essential part of innate immunity. Flow cytometric (FCM) monitoring of IMCs in peripheral blood (PB) has great clinical potential for disease monitoring due to their role in maintenance of tissue homeostasis and ability to sense micro-environmental changes, such as inflammatory processes and tissue damage. However, the lack of standardized and validated approaches has hampered broad clinical implementation. For accurate identification and separation of IMC populations, 62 antibodies against 44 different proteins were evaluated. In multiple rounds of EuroFlow-based design-testing-evaluation-redesign, finally 16 antibodies were selected for their non-redundancy and separation power. Accordingly, two antibody combinations were designed for fast, sensitive, and reproducible FCM monitoring of IMC populations in PB in clinical settings (11-color; 13 antibodies) and translational research (14-color; 16 antibodies). Performance of pre-analytical and analytical variables among different instruments, together with optimized post-analytical data analysis and reference values were assessed. Overall, 265 blood samples were used for design and validation of the antibody combinations and in vitro functional assays, as well as for assessing the impact of sample preparation procedures and conditions. The two (11- and 14-color) antibody combinations allowed for robust and sensitive detection of 19 and 23 IMC populations, respectively. Highly reproducible identification and enumeration of IMC populations was achieved, independently of anticoagulant, type of FCM instrument and center, particularly when database/software-guided automated (vs. manual "expert-based") gating was used. Whereas no significant changes were observed in identification of IMC populations for up to 24h delayed sample processing, a significant impact was observed in their absolute counts after >12h delay. Therefore, accurate identification and quantitation of IMC populations requires sample processing on the same day. Significantly different counts were observed in PB for multiple IMC populations according to age and sex. Consequently, PB samples from 116 healthy donors (8-69 years) were used for collecting age and sex related reference values for all IMC populations. In summary, the two antibody combinations and FCM approach allow for rapid, standardized, automated and reproducible identification of 19 and 23 IMC populations in PB, suited for monitoring of innate immune responses in clinical and translational research settings

Chemically Cross-Linked Thin Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene)Films for Nonvolatile Ferroelectric Polymer Memory

Both chemically and electrically robust ferroelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoro ethylene) (PVDF-TrFE) films were developed by spin-coating and subsequent thermal annealing with the thermal cross-linking agent 2,4,4-trimethyl-1,6-hexanediamine (THDA). Well-defined ferroelectric beta crystalline domains were developed with THDA up to approximately 50 wt %, with respect to polymer concentration; resulting in characteristic ferroelectric hysteresis polarization-voltage loops in metal/cross-linked ferroelectric layer/metal capacitors with remnant polarization of approximately 4 mu C/cm(2). Our chemically networked film allowed for facile stacking of a solution-processable organic semiconductor on top of the film, leading to a bottom-gate ferroelectric field effect transistor (FeFET). A low-voltage operating FeFET was realized with a networked PVDF-TrFE film, which had significantly reduced gate leakage current between the drain and gate electrodes. A solution-processed single crystalline tri-isopropylsilylethynyl pentacene FeFET with a chemically cross-linked PVDF-TrFE film showed reliable I-V hysteresis with source-drain ON/OFF current bistablility of 1 x 10(3) at a sweeping gate voltage of +/- 20 V. Furthermore, both thermal micro/nanoimprinting and transfer printing techniques were conveniently combined for micro/nanopatterning of chemically resistant cross-linked PVDF-TrFE filmsclose111