143 research outputs found
Adsorption on a periodically corrugated substrate
Mean field analysis of the effective interfacial Hamiltonian shows that with
increasing temperature the adsorption on a periodically corrugated substrate
can proceed in two steps: first, there is the filling transition in which the
depressions of the substrate become partially or completely filled; then there
is the wetting transition at which the substrate as a whole becomes covered
with a macroscopically thick wetting layer. The actual order and location of
both transitions are related to the wetting properties of the corresponding
planar substrate and to the form of corrugation. Certain morphological
properties of the liquid-vapor interface in the case of a saw-like corrugated
substrate are discussed analyticallyComment: 20 pages, 9 Postscript figure
Filling transition for a wedge
We study the formation and the shape of a liquid meniscus in a wedge with
opening angle which is exposed to a vapor phase. By applying a suitable
effective interface model, at liquid-vapor coexistence and at a temperature
we find a filling transition at which the height of the meniscus
becomes macroscopically large while the planar walls of the wedge far away from
its center remain nonwet up to the wetting transition occurring at
. Depending on the fluid and the substrate potential the filling
transition can be either continuous or discontinuous. In the latter case it is
accompanied by a prefilling line extending into the vapor phase of the bulk
phase diagram and describing a transition from a small to a large, but finite,
meniscus height. The filling and the prefilling transitions correspond to
nonanalyticities in the surface and line contributions to the free energy of
the fluid, respectively.Comment: 48 pages (RevTex), 14 figures (ps), submitted to PR
The problem of uniqueness in the reduced description of adsorption on the wedge-shaped substrate
In the reduced one-dimensional description of the adsorption on the
wedge-shaped substrate the mid-point interface height serves as the order
parameter. We point at the ambiguity which appears in the transfer-matrix
approach to this problem. We also propose how to avoid this problem by
introducing the appropriate order parameter.Comment: 7 pages, 4 Postscript figures, uses psfrag.sty; double reference
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Impact of meteorological and field conditions on air pollutants spreading from municipal waste landfills
The paper presents the influence of meteorological and local terrain conditions for the possibility of the spread of pollutants in ambient air from the surface sources of pollution e.g. landfills. The spread of pollutants in ambient air, in the form of so-called “cloud of pollution” can reach a few hundred meters from the landfill. Many years of observation and research in the areas covered by the authors waste disposal indicates that the essential elements affect the behavior of a cloud of pollutants over the area of the landfill are: degree of vertical air stability, wind direction and speed and nature of air turbulence, precipitation, and shape and type of land cover. All these factors should be taken into account when assessing the site in terms of its suitability for the prospective location of the landfill as well as adequate security at the design stage anti-migration
Radioactive wastes neutralization and environment protection methods
The problem of radioactive wastes concerns all developed countries in which nuclear energy has become common in practically all spheres of life and economy. Radioactive wastes require special treatment connected with their processing, transport and temporary and permanent storage in surface and underground stockpiles in chosen rock outcroppings. The paper presents types of radioactive wastes formed in Poland, criteria of their division and classification, methods of neutralization and utilization. Systems of barriers for radioactive wastes stockpiles protecting the environment are presented, especially conditions resulting from geological structure and soil properties, which form a natural protective barrier
Complete Wetting of Pits and Grooves
For one-component volatile fluids governed by dispersion forces an effective
interface Hamiltonian, derived from a microscopic density functional theory, is
used to study complete wetting of geometrically structured substrates. Also the
long range of substrate potentials is explicitly taken into account. Four types
of geometrical patterns are considered: (i) one-dimensional periodic arrays of
rectangular or parabolic grooves and (ii) two-dimensional lattices of
cylindrical or parabolic pits. We present numerical evidence that at the
centers of the cavity regions the thicknesses of the adsorbed films obey
precisely the same geometrical covariance relation, which has been recently
reported for complete cone and wedge filling. However, this covariance does not
hold for the laterally averaged wetting film thicknesses. For sufficiently deep
cavities with vertical walls and close to liquid-gas phase coexistence in the
bulk, the film thicknesses exhibit an effective planar scaling regime, which as
function of undersaturation is characterized by a power law with the common
critical exponent -1/3 as for a flat substrate, but with the amplitude
depending on the geometrical features.Comment: 12 page
Interfacial fluctuations near the critical filling transition
We propose a method to describe the short-distance behavior of an interface
fluctuating in the presence of the wedge-shaped substrate near the critical
filling transition. Two different length scales determined by the average
height of the interface at the wedge center can be identified. On one length
scale the one-dimensional approximation of Parry et al. \cite{Parry} which
allows to find the interfacial critical exponents is extracted from the full
description. On the other scale the short-distance fluctuations are analyzed by
the mean-field theory.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure
Exploring the Potential of Lactoferrin in Neonatology and Obstetrics - Promising Advancements for Maternal and Infant Health
Introduction and purpose:
Lactoferrin (Lf), a glycoprotein found in body fluids, plays a key role in many of the biological mechanisms that occur in the human body. Over the years, more and more studies have contributed to the expansion of the clinical applications of lactoferrin. In this article, we want to focus on using lactoferrin in Neonatology and Obstetrics. The applications of lactoferrin in obstetrics continue to expand, some of which include the prevention of preterm delivery (PTD) and anaemia in pregnant women. Lf also helps to reduce the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis and sepsis in newborns by mobilising the immune system and participating in the defence against pathogens and has been under investigation as a potential therapeutic agent for genital infections. The aim of this review is to summarise the current state of knowledge, regarding lactoferrin's broad spectrum of action and to highlight its potential therapeutic applications in these contexts.
State of knowledge:
This article aims to review the current knowledge on the properties of the lactoferrin and its applications in medicine, especially neonatology and obstetrics. Studies available in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases were included in the analysis.
Conclusion:
While lactoferrin shows promise in improving neonatal and maternal health, additional research is required to fully understand its precise mechanisms of action and optimise its use as a therapeutic agent. There is also a need for further studies to assess the safety and efficacy of lactoferrin in a variety of patient populations. Despite the challenges, lactoferrin continues to be an intriguing subject of scientific research, with potential therapeutic benefits in various medical fields
Revolutionizing radical prostatectomy - a comparative study of traditional and modern automated surgical techniques
Introduction and purpose:
Prostate cancer is a common malignancy seen worldwide and second most common cancer among Polish men as well as globally. The symptoms of prostate cancer depend on severity of the cancer. Prostate cancer diagnosis is typically established through physical examination- digital rectal examination (DRE), PSA (prostate specific antigen) testing and confirmed by histopathological examination. The choice of treatment method depends on many factors: disease severity, risk assessment (based on PSA, TNM and Gleason score), age of the patient and expected survival time. Treatment include surgery, hormone therapy, radiation therapy or chemotherapy. In some cases, the combination of methods can be used to achieve better outcomes.
One of available treatment option is radical prostatectomy which includes open radical prostatectomy (ORP), laparoscopic and laparoscopic robot assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). We aimed at presenting various outcomes comparing open radical prostatectomy and robot assisted radical prostatectomy.
State of knowledge:
In order to carry out the review of the topic we began to collect information and comprehensive research in PubMed database. The analysis focused on the treatment of prostate cancer especially radical prostatectomy methods, the course of surgical procedure, postoperative care, oncological results, intraoperative and postoperative complications.
Conclusion:
ORP and RARP ae two surgical procedures used in prostate cancer treatment. Both of them involve removal of the prostate gland but also have a multiplicity of differences. RARP is safe and less invasive alternative to ORP with shorter postoperative hospitalization. However, ORP is known for no necessity for expensive specialized equipment such as Da Vinci or Versius robot surgery system and shorter operative time
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