23 research outputs found
Liquid n-hexane condensed in silica nanochannels: A combined optical birefringence and vapor sorption isotherm study
The optical birefringence of liquid n-hexane condensed in an array of
parallel silica channels of 7nm diameter and 400 micrometer length is studied
as a function of filling of the channels via the vapor phase. By an analysis
with the generalized Bruggeman effective medium equation we demonstrate that
such measurements are insensitive to the detailed geometrical (positional)
arrangement of the adsorbed liquid inside the channels. However, this technique
is particularly suitable to search for any optical anisotropies and thus
collective orientational order as a function of channel filling. Nevertheless,
no hints for such anisotropies are found in liquid n-hexane. The n-hexane
molecules in the silica nanochannels are totally orientationally disordered in
all condensation regimes, in particular in the film growth as well as in the
the capillary condensed regime. Thus, the peculiar molecular arrangement found
upon freezing of liquid n-hexane in nanochannel-confinement, where the
molecules are collectively aligned perpendicularly to the channels' long axes,
does not originate in any pre-alignment effects in the nanoconfined liquid due
to capillary nematization.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
Preferred orientation of n-hexane crystallized in silicon nanochannels: A combined x-ray diffraction and sorption isotherm study
We present an x-ray diffraction study on n-hexane in tubular silicon channels
of approximately 10 nm diameter both as a function of the filling fraction f of
the channels and as a function of temperature. Upon cooling, confined n-hexane
crystallizes in a triclinic phase typical of the bulk crystalline state.
However, the anisotropic spatial confinement leads to a preferred orientation
of the confined crystallites, where the crystallographic direction
coincides with the long axis of the channels. The magnitude of this preferred
orientation increases with the filling fraction, which corroborates the
assumption of a Bridgman-type crystallization process being responsible for the
peculiar crystalline texture. This growth process predicts for a channel-like
confinement an alignment of the fastest crystallization direction parallel to
the long channel axis. It is expected to be increasingly effective with the
length of solidifying liquid parcels and thus with increasing f. In fact, the
fastest solidification front is expected to sweep over the full silicon
nanochannel for f=1, in agreement with our observation of a practically perfect
texture for entirely filled nanochannels
Inventing a herbal tradition: The complex roots of the current popularity of Epilobium angustifolium in Eastern Europe
Ethnopharmacological relevance: Currently various scientific and popular sources provide a wide spectrum of ethnopharmacological information on many plants, yet the sources of that information, as well as the information itself, are often not clear, potentially resulting in the erroneous use of plants among lay people or even in official medicine. Our field studies in seven countries on the Eastern edge of Europe have revealed an unusual increase in the medicinal use of Epilobium angustifolium L., especially in Estonia, where the majority of uses were specifically related to “men's problems”. The aim of the current work is: to understand the recent and sudden increase in the interest in the use of E. angustifolium in Estonia; to evaluate the extent of documented traditional use of E. angustifolium among sources of knowledge considered traditional; to track different sources describing (or attributed as describing) the benefits of E. angustifolium; and to detect direct and indirect influences of the written sources on the currently documented local uses of E. angustifolium on the Eastern edge of Europe. Materials and methods: In this study we used a variety of methods: semi-structured interviews with 599 people in 7 countries, historical data analysis and historical ethnopharmacological source analysis. We researched historical and archival sources, and academic and popular literature published on the medicinal use of E. angustifolium in the regions of our field sites as well as internationally, paying close attention to the literature that might have directly or indirectly contributed to the popularity of E. angustifolium at different times in history. Results: Our results show that the sudden and recent popularity in the medical use of E. angustifolium in Estonia has been caused by local popular authors with academic medical backgrounds, relying simultaneously on “western” and Russian sources. While Russian sources have propagated (partially unpublished) results from the 1930s, “western” sources are scientific insights derived from the popularization of other Epilobium species by Austrian herbalist Maria Treben. The information Treben disseminated could have been originated from a previous peak in popularity of E. angustifolium in USA in the second half of the 19th century, caused in turn by misinterpretation of ancient herbals. The traditional uses of E. angustifolium were related to wounds and skin diseases, fever, pain (headache, sore throat, childbirth), and abdominal-related problems (constipation, stomach ache) and intestinal bleeding. Few more uses were based on the similarity principle. The main theme, however, is the fragmentation of use and its lack of consistency apart from wounds and skin diseases. Conclusions: Historical ethnobotanical investigations could help to avoid creating repeating waves of popularity of plants that have already been tried for certain diseases and later abandoned as not fully effective. There is, of course, a chance that E. angustifolium could also finally be proven to be clinically safe and cost-effective for treating benign prostatic hyperplasia, but this has not yet happened despite recent intensive research. Documented traditional use would suggest investigating the dermatological, intestinal anti-hemorrhagic and pain inhibiting properties of this plant, if any