Initial spreading of low-viscosity drops on partially wetting surfaces

Liquid drops start spreading directly after brought into contact with a partial wetting substrate. Although this phenomenon involves a three-phase contact line, the spreading motion is very fast. We study the initial spreading dynamics of low-viscosity drops, using two complementary methods: Molecular Dynamics simulations and high-speed imaging. We access previously unexplored length- and time-scales, and provide a detailed picture on how the initial contact between the liquid drop and the solid is established. Both methods unambiguously point towards a spreading regime that is independent of wettability, with the contact radius growing as the square root of time

Bubble formation during the collision of a sessile drop with a meniscus

The impact of a sessile droplet with a moving meniscus, as encountered in processes such as dip-coating, generically leads to the entrapment of small air bubbles. Here we experimentally study this process of bubble formation by looking through the liquid using high-speed imaging. Our central finding is that the size of the entrapped bubble crucially depends on the location where coalescence between the drop and the moving meniscus is initiated: (i) at a finite height above the substrate, or (ii) exactly at the contact line. In the first case, we typically find bubble sizes of the order of a few microns, independent of the size and speed of the impacting drop. By contrast, the bubbles that are formed when coalescence starts at the contact line become increasingly large, as the size or the velocity of the impacting drop is increased. We show how these observations can be explained from a balance between the lubrication pressure in the air layer and the capillary pressure of the drop

Creating Context Networks in Dutch Legislation

This paper describes ongoing research on automatically determining relevant context to display to a user of a legislative portal given the article they are retrieving, purely based on ‘objective’ criteria inferred from the network of sources of law. A first prototype is presented and a formative evaluation of it by legal expert users. Results are promising, but there is room for improvement

Oscillating and star-shaped drops levitated by an air-flow

We investigate the spontaneous oscillations of drops levitated above an air cushion, eventually inducing a breaking of axisymmetry and the appearance of “star drops”. This is strongly reminiscent of the Leidenfrost stars that are observed for drops floating above a hot substrate. The key advantage of this work is that we inject the airflow at a constant rate below the drop, thus eliminating thermal effects and allowing for a better control of the flow rate. We perform experiments with drops of different viscosities and observe stable states, oscillations, and chimney instabilities. We find that for a given drop size the instability appears above a critical flow rate, where the latter is largest for small drops. All these observations are reproduced by numerical simulations, where we treat the drop using potential flow and the gas as a viscous lubrication layer. Qualitatively, the onset of instability agrees with the experimental results, although the typical flow rates are too large by a factor 10. Our results demonstrate that thermal effects are not important for the formation of star drops and strongly suggest a purely hydrodynamic mechanism for the formation of Leidenfrost stars

Experiences, adherence and satisfaction with a combined exercise and dietary intervention for patients with ovarian cancer undergoing chemotherapy:A mixed-methods study

Objective: This study examined experiences, adherence and satisfaction with a combined exercise and dietary intervention in patients with ovarian cancer and their healthcare professionals (HCPs) as part of the randomized PADOVA trial. Methods: A mixed-methods approach was used in 24 patients with ovarian cancer receiving first-line chemotherapy who were randomly allocated to a combined exercise and dietary intervention or usual care with counseling sessions post-treatment. Qualitative data on intervention experiences, adherence and satisfaction was collected using semi-structured interviews with patients and their HCPs (n = 18 physical therapists; n = 5 dietitians). Quantitative data on adherence and satisfaction was collected to provide context to qualitative data. Results: Exercise relative dose intensity ranged from 36 to 100% (median 72%) and patients attended 33–133% (median 100%) of the prescribed dietary counseling sessions. Patients appreciated guidance on exercise and nutrition and perceived benefits including improved physical fitness, quality of life, peer support and recovery after surgery and/or chemotherapy cycles. Both patients and HCPs were satisfied with the intervention and perceived that participation exceeded prior expectations. Median patient satisfaction score with the intervention was 8.5 out of 10. Suggestions for improving the intervention included further personalization of the number, content and scheduling of the sessions to preferences of patients and HCPs. Patients in the usual care group reported counseling sessions post-chemotherapy to be too little too late. Conclusions: Patients with ovarian cancer adhered well to the intervention. Numerous perceived benefits of the intervention were reported by patients and HCPs. Good adherence and positive experiences support successful implementation in clinical practice

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells of melanoma patients present exogenous proteins to CD4+ T cells after FcγRII-mediated uptake

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) contribute to innate antiviral immune responses by producing type I interferons. Although human pDCs can induce T cell responses upon viral infection, it remains unclear if pDCs can present exogenous antigens. Here, we show that human pDCs exploit FcγRII (CD32) to internalize antigen–antibody complexes, resulting in the presentation of exogenous antigen to T cells. pDCs isolated from melanoma patients vaccinated with autologous monocyte-derived peptide- and keyhold limpet hemocyanin (KLH)–loaded dendritic cells, but not from nonvaccinated patients or patients that lack a humoral response against KLH, were able to stimulate KLH-specific T cell proliferation. Interestingly, we observed that internalization of KLH by pDCs depended on the presence of serum from vaccinated patients that developed an anti-KLH antibody response. Anti-CD32 antibodies inhibited antigen uptake and presentation, demonstrating that circulating anti-KLH antibodies binding to CD32 mediate KLH internalization. We conclude that CD32 is an antigen uptake receptor on pDCs and that antigen presentation by pDCs is of particular relevance when circulating antibodies are present. Antigen presentation by pDCs may thus modulate the strength and quality of the secondary phase of an immune response

BOLD Vision 2020:Designing a vision for the future of Big Open Legal Data

The vision of openlaws.eu is to make access to justice easier for citizens, business- es and legal experts. For this purpose, an innovative legal information platform has been designed by the openlaws.eu project, considering the needs of various stakeholder groups as well as the latest developments in technology and our information society. Access to justice is a fundamental problem in the European Union. There are over 500 million citizens and over 21 million businesses who live, work and operate in 28 jurisdictions, written in 24 official languages. A common market cannot work without a legal system as a basis. Legal information is a public good and it is the duty of governments and the EU to inform citizens and business about the law. In a democracy and under the rule of law everybody should know legislation and case law – or at least have access to it. Legal tech is a new terms for new technology that can be applied to legal information in order to create better access and better understanding of the law. However, just because things can be done, does not mean automatically that they are done. Financial and organisational restrictions and the lack of competency can be a deal-breaker for innovation. Open data, open innovation and open source software can be a potential solution to this problem, especially when combined to one coherent ecosystem. openlaws.eu has developed a prototype platform upon these new open concepts. The application and implementation of some of the features of this innovative legal cloud service indicate where the road of “Big Open Legal Data” can lead us in the upcoming years. The project team envisages an environment, where a “social layer” is put on top of the existing “institutional layer”. Citizens, businesses and legal experts can actively collaborate on the basis of primary legislation and case law. Linked and aggregated legal data provide a solid basis. Such information can then be represented in traditional and more innovative ways. Text and data mining as well as legal intelligence help to process large amounts of legal information automatically, so that experts can focus on the more complicated questions. In the next five years more and more legal data will be opened up, not only because of the PSI Directive, but also because it is in the best interest of governments. As a result, we anticipate that more legal tech start-ups will emerge, as already happened during the past two years. They will apply innovative concepts and new technology on existing legal information and create better access to justice in the EU, in Member States and in the world