Frequency dependence of microflows upon acoustic interactions with fluids

Rayleigh surface acoustic waves (SAWs), generated on piezoelectric substrates, can interact with liquids to generate fast streaming flows. Although studied extensively, mainly phenomenologically, the effect of the SAW frequency on streaming in fluids in constrained volumes is not fully understood, resulting in sub-optimal correlations between models and experimental observations. Using microfluidic structures to reproducibly define the fluid volume, we use recent advances modeling the body force generated by SAWs to develop a deeper understanding of the effect of acoustic frequency on the magnitude of streaming flows. We implement this as a new predictive tool using a finite element model of fluid motion to establish optimized conditions for streaming. The model is corroborated experimentally over a range of different acoustic excitation frequencies enabling us to validate a design tool, linking microfluidic channel dimensions with frequencies and streaming efficiencies. We show that in typical microfluidic chambers, the length and height of the chamber are critical in determining the optimum frequency, with smaller geometries requiring higher frequencies

Confinement of surface waves at the air-water interface to control aerosol size and dispersity

The precise control over the size and dispersity of droplets, produced within aerosols, is of great interest across many manufacturing, food, cosmetic, and medical industries. Amongst these applications, the delivery of new classes of high value drugs to the lungs has recently attracted significant attention from pharmaceutical companies. This is commonly achieved through the mechanical excitation of surface waves at the air liquid interface of a parent liquid volume. Previous studies have established a correlation between the wavelength on the surface of liquid and the final aerosol size. In this work, we show that the droplet size distribution of aerosols can be controlled by constraining the liquid inside micron-sized cavities and coupling surface acoustic waves into different volumes of liquid inside micro-grids. In particular, we show that by reducing the characteristic physical confinement size (i.e., either the initial liquid volume or the cavities’ diameters), higher harmonics of capillary waves are revealed with a consequent reduction of both aerosol mean size and dispersity. In doing so, we provide a new method for the generation and fine control of aerosols’ sizes distribution

Faculty Mentoring and Unmasking Gender Biases and Influences for Pakistan Returnee Doctoral Graduates From Abroad

The mentoring of faculty is an important aspect in higher education for countries investing in training faculty abroad. This study explores the key challenges faced by young female faculty when returning from doctoral studies abroad and assuming leadership positions in higher education, without having had prior mentoring. The participants of this study were doctoral graduates who completed studies in UK and USA, and who are working in universities overseen by the HEC of Pakistan. A thematic analysis was conducted for interview data obtained from the British Council in Pakistan and consisting of mainly young female academics. The findings reveal outright discrimination against females, a lack of support for female faculty and the role of the socio-cultural context constraining them. Remedial mechanisms in the form of appropriately matched mentoring is needed to address the emerging concerns

Spatially selecting single cell for lysis using light induced electric fields

An optoelectronic tweezing (OET) device, within an integrated microfluidic channel, is used to precisely select single cells for lysis among dense populations. Cells to be lysed are exposed to higher electrical fields than their neighbours by illuminating a photoconductive film underneath them. Using beam spot sizes as low as 2.5 μm, 100% lysis efficiency is reached in <1 min allowing the targeted lysis of cells

Lipid topology and linear cationic antimicrobial peptides: a novel mechanistic model

The dataset is a dedicated LabVIEW virtual instrument, for the analysis of dye-efflux dynamics. The instrument is capable of automatically extracting the apparent permeability from the leakage of encapsulated fluorescent markers, from within artificial cell systems

Branched hybridization chain reaction – using highly dimensional DNA nanostructures for label-free, reagent-less multiplexed molecular diagnostics

The specific and multiplexed detection of DNA underpins many analytical methods, including the detection of microorganisms that are important in the medical, veterinary, and environmental sciences. To achieve such measurements generally requires enzyme-mediated amplification of the low concentrations of the target nucleic acid sequences present, together with the precise control of temperature, as well as the use of enzyme-compatible reagents. This inevitably leads to compromises between analytical performance and the complexity of the assay. The hybridization chain reaction (HCR) provides an attractive alternative, as a route to enzyme-free DNA amplification. To date, the linear nucleic acid products, produced during amplification, have not enabled the development of efficient multiplexing strategies, nor the use of label-free analysis. Here, we show that by designing new DNA nanoconstructs, we are able, for the first time, to increase the molecular dimensionality of HCR products, creating highly branched amplification products, which can be readily detected on label-free sensors. To show that this new, branching HCR system offers a route for enzyme-free, label-free DNA detection, we demonstrate the multiplexed detection of a target sequence (as the initiator) in whole blood. In the future, this technology will enable rapid point-of-care multiplexed clinical analysis or in-the-field environmental monitoring

Electrical Generation Systems Suitable for use in Wave Power Schemes

This note describes studies made on electrical generation systems which may be suitable for wave power stations. Two complementary systems are described and the results of testing are presented. Computer simulations of each system which were used both at the design stage and during testing are also described

Multi-reflection polarimetry in microfluidics

The field of microfluidics promises new portable, low-cost sensing systems, as well as the capabilities to measure the physical or chemical properties of precious samples, for which only small volumes are available. However, when using microfluidic channels with millimeter to micron scale dimensions, together with optical sensing methods, these configurations result in short path lengths over which the signal can be acquired. Whilst polarimetry would greatly benefit from using small volumes, providing important information on the structure of chiral biomarkers in life sciences, the small interrogation volumes associated with the use of minute samples decreases the numbers of molecules in the light path that cause an optical rotation and reduces the sensitivity of the technique. Here, we show that when an optical beam, passing through a chiral sample, undergoes multiple reflections from suitably aligned external micromirrors, the usual cancelling out of the optical rotation, that occurs when the rotated polarized beam is passed back through a solution following reflection at a single mirror, can be negated. This enables the chirality of molecular species present in a microfluidic sample to be measured with increased sensitivity. This approach was validated experimentally using solutions of D-(+)-glucose as a model system, by investigating the effect of multiple reflections of a linearly polarized He-Ne laser beam and a 403 nm diode laser beam across the microfluidic channel. It was found that there was a 30-fold enhancement in the limit of detection with as few as 11 reflections through the sample

Hyperelastic tuning of one dimensional phononic band-gaps using directional stress

JMC acknowledges EPSRC Fellowship (EP/K027611/1) and the ERC advanced investigator award (340117 - Biophononics).In this paper we show that acoustoelasticity in hyperelastic materials can be understood using the framework of non-linear wave mixing, which, when coupled with an induced static stress, leads to a change in the phase velocity of the propagating wave with no change in frequency. By performing Floquet wave eigenvalue analysis, we also show that band-gaps for periodic composites, acting as 1D phononic crystals, can be tuned using this static stress. In the presence of second order elastic nonlinearities, the phase velocity of propagating waves in the phononic structure changes, leading to observable shifts in the band-gaps. Finally, we present numerical examples as evidence that the band-gaps are tuned by both the direction of the stress and its magnitude.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe