A Tomographic-PIV Investigation of Vapor-Induced Flow Structures in Confined Jet Impingement Boiling

Tomographic particle image velocimetry (PIV) is used to study the effect of confinement gap height on the liquid flow characteristics in jet impingement boiling. This first application of tomographic PIV to flow boiling is significant given the complexity of confined two-phase jet impingement. A jet of subcooled wa- ter at a Reynolds number of 5,0 0 0 impinges onto a circular heat source undergoing boiling heat transfer at a constant heat input. Confinement gap heights of 8, 4, and 2 jet diameters are investigated. A visual hull method is used to reconstruct the time-varying regions of the vapor in the flow. The vapor motion is found to govern the liquid flow pattern and turbulence generation in the confinement gap. Time-averaged velocities and regions of turbulent kinetic energy in the liquid are highest for a confinement gap height of 8 jet diameters, with lower velocity magnitude and turbulence being observed for the smaller spac- ings. Coherent vortical structures identified with the λ2 -criterion are found to occur most frequently near the moving vapor interface. The most intense regions of turbulent kinetic energy do not coincide with the location of coherent structures within the flow. Irrotational velocity fluctuations in the liquid phase caused by vapor bubble pinch-offare the primary cause of the high turbulent kinetic energy measured in these regions. At a gap height of H / d = 2 the vapor plume is constrained as it grows from the heat source, causing bulk flow oscillations in the downstream region of the confinement gap

Axisymmetric Wall Jet Development in Confined Jet Impingement

The flow field surrounding an axisymmetric, confined, impinging jet was investigated with a focus on the early development of the triple-layeredwall jet structure. Experiments were conducted using stereo particle image velocimetry at three different confinement gap heights (2, 4, and 8 jet diameters) across Reynolds numbers ranging from 1000 to 9000. The rotating flow structures within the confinement region and their interaction with the surrounding flow were dependent on the confinement gap height and Reynolds number. The recirculation core shifted downstream as the Reynolds number increased. For the smallest confinement gap height investigated, the strong recirculation caused a disruption of the wall jet development. The radial position of the recirculation core observed at this small gap height was found to coincide with the location where the maximum wall jet velocity had decayed to 15% of the impinging jet exit velocity. After this point, the self-similarity hypothesis failed to predict the evolution of the wall jet further downstream. A reduction in confinement gap height increased the growth rates of the wall jet thickness but did not affect the decay rate of the wall jet maximum velocity. For jet Reynolds numbers above 2500, the decay rate of the maximum velocity in the developing region of the wall jet was approximately -1.1, which is close to previous results reported for the fully developed region of radial wall jets. A much higher decay rate of -1.5 was found for the wall jet formed by a laminar impinging jet at Re = 1000

Stereo-PIV Measurements of Vapor-Induced Flow Modifications in Confined Jet Impingement Boiling

A single subcooled jet of water which undergoes boiling upon impingement on a discrete heat source is studied experimentally using time-resolved stereo particle image velocimetry (PIV). The impinging jet issues from a 3.75 mm diameter sharp-edged orifice in a confining orifice plate positioned 4 orifice diam- eters from the target surface. The behavior at jet Reynolds numbers of 5,0 0 0 and 15,0 0 0 is compared for a constant jet inlet subcooling of 10 °C. Fluorescent illumination allows for simultaneous imaging of both the flow tracers and the vapor bubbles in the flow. Flow structure, time-averaged velocities, and turbu- lence statistics are reported for the liquid regions within the confinement gap for a range of heat inputs at both Reynolds numbers, and the effect of the vapor generation on the flow is discussed. Vapor genera- tion from boiling is found to modify the liquid velocities and turbulence fluctuations in the confinement gap . Flow in the confinement gap is dominated by vapor flow, and the vapor bubbles disrupt both the vertical impinging jet and horizontal wall jet flow. Moreover, vapor bubbles are a significant source of turbulence kinetic energy and dissipation, with the bubbly regions above the heated surface experiencing the most intense turbulence modification. Spectral analysis indicates that a Strouhal number of 0.023 is characteristic of the interaction between bubbles and turbulent liquid jets

Three-Dimensional Liquid-Vapor Interface Reconstruction from High-Speed Stereo Images during Pool Boiling

A technique for reconstruction of liquid-gas interfaces based on high-speed stereo-imaging is applied to the liquid-vapor interfaces formed above a heated surface during pool boiling. Template matching is used for determining the correspondence of local features of the liquid-vapor interfaces between the two camera views. A sampling grid is overlaid on the reference image, and windows centered at each sampled pixel are compared with windows centered along the epipolar line in the target image to obtain a correlation signal. The three-dimensional coordinates of each matched pixel are determined via triangulation, which yields the physical world representation of the liquid-vapor interface. Liquid-vapor interface reconstruction is demonstrated during pool boiling for a range of heat fluxes. Textured mushroom-like vapor bubbles that are fed by multiple nucleation sites are formed close to the heated surface. Analysis of the temporal attributes of the interface distinguishes the transition with increasing heat flux from a mode in which vapor is released from the surface as a continuous plume to one dominated by the occurrence of intermittent vapor bursts. A characteristic morphology of the vapor mushroom formed during vapor burst events is identified. This liquid-vapor interface reconstruction technique is a time-resolved, flexible and non-invasive alternative to existing methods for phase-distribution mapping, and can be combined with other opticalbased diagnostic tools, such as tomographic particle image velocimetry. Vapor flow morphology characterization during pool boiling at high heat fluxes can be used to inform vapor removal strategies that delay the occurrence of critical heat flux during pool boiling

The effects of intrinsic noise on the behaviour of bistable cell regulatory systems under quasi-steady state conditions

We analyse the effect of intrinsic fluctuations on the properties of bistable stochastic systems with time scale separation operating under1 quasi-steady state conditions. We first formulate a stochastic generalisation of the quasi-steady state approximation based on the semi-classical approximation of the partial differential equation for the generating function associated with the Chemical Master Equation. Such approximation proceeds by optimising an action functional whose associated set of Euler-Lagrange (Hamilton) equations provide the most likely fluctuation path. We show that, under appropriate conditions granting time scale separation, the Hamiltonian can be re-scaled so that the set of Hamilton equations splits up into slow and fast variables, whereby the quasi-steady state approximation can be applied. We analyse two particular examples of systems whose mean-field limit has been shown to exhibit bi-stability: an enzyme-catalysed system of two mutually-inhibitory proteins and a gene regulatory circuit with self-activation. Our theory establishes that the number of molecules of the conserved species are order parameters whose variation regulates bistable behaviour in the associated systems beyond the predictions of the mean-field theory. This prediction is fully confirmed by direct numerical simulations using the stochastic simulation algorithm. This result allows us to propose strategies whereby, by varying the number of molecules of the three conserved chemical species, cell properties associated to bistable behaviour (phenotype, cell-cycle status, etc.) can be controlled.Comment: 33 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in the Journal of Chemical Physic

The multilevel trigger system of the DIRAC experiment

The multilevel trigger system of the DIRAC experiment at CERN is presented. It includes a fast first level trigger as well as various trigger processors to select events with a pair of pions having a low relative momentum typical of the physical process under study. One of these processors employs the drift chamber data, another one is based on a neural network algorithm and the others use various hit-map detector correlations. Two versions of the trigger system used at different stages of the experiment are described. The complete system reduces the event rate by a factor of 1000, with efficiency $\geq$95% of detecting the events in the relative momentum range of interest.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figure

The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p57(Kip2) is epigenetically regulated in carboplatin resistance and results in collateral sensitivity to the CDK inhibitor seliciclib in ovarian cancer

Carboplatin remains a first-line agent in the management of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Unfortunately, platinum-resistant disease ultimately occurs in most patients. Using a novel EOC cell line with acquired resistance to carboplatin: PEO1CarbR, genome-wide micro-array profiling identified the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p57(Kip2) as specifically downregulated in carboplatin resistance. Presently, we describe confirmation of these preliminary data with a variety of approaches

Successful bone marrow transplantation in a patient with Diamond-Blackfan anemia with co-existing Duchenne muscular dystrophy: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Diamond-Blackfan anemia and Duchenne muscular dystrophy are two rare congenital anomalies. Both anomalies occurring in the same child is extremely rare. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is a well-established therapy for Diamond-Blackfan anemia. However, in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, stem cell therapy still remains experimental.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report the case of a nine-year-old boy of north Indian descent with Diamond-Blackfan anemia and Duchenne muscular dystrophy who underwent successful allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. He is transfusion-independent, and his Duchenne muscular dystrophy has shown no clinical deterioration over the past 45 months. His creatine phosphokinase levels have significantly decreased to 300 U/L from 14,000 U/L pre-transplant. The patient is 100% donor chimera in the hematopoietic system, and his muscle tissue has shown 8% to 10.4% cells of donor origin.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our patient's Diamond-Blackfan anemia was cured by allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The interesting clinical observation of a possible benefit in Duchenne muscular dystrophy cannot be ruled out. However, further clinical follow-up with serial muscle biopsies and molecular studies are needed to establish this finding.</p

Determination of ππ\pi\pi scattering lengths from measurement of π+π−\pi^+\pi^- atom lifetime

The DIRAC experiment at CERN has achieved a sizeable production of $\pi^+\pi^-$ atoms and has significantly improved the precision on its lifetime determination. From a sample of 21227 atomic pairs, a 4% measurement of the S-wave $\pi\pi$ scattering length difference $|a_0-a_2| = (.0.2533^{+0.0080}_{-0.0078}|_\mathrm{stat}.{}^{+0.0078}_{-0.0073}|_\mathrm{syst})M_{\pi^+}^{-1}$ has been attained, providing an important test of Chiral Perturbation Theory.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure