Production of microfluidic chips from polydimethylsiloxane with a milled channeled surface for modeling oil recovery during porous rock waterflooding

Microfluidic chips with porous structures are used to study the flow of oil-containing emulsion in the rock. Such chips can be made from polydimethylsiloxane by casting into a master mold. At the initial stages of research, fast and cheap prototyping of a large number of different master molds is often required. It is proposed to use milling to make a channeled surface on a polymethyl methacrylate plate, from which a negative image should be taken, which is the master mold for casting positive polydimethylsiloxane chips in it. Several epoxy compositions have been tested to make this master mold. The main requirement in the search for the material was the exact replication of the geometry and sufficiently low adhesion to polymethyl methacrylate and polydimethylsiloxane for removing the product with minimal damage to the mold. It was possible to make master molds from all the materials used, but with defects and various degrees of damage. One of the epoxy compositions was found suitable for making a master mold with many elements simulating the grains of a porous medium (height to width ratio 2:3). The developed method makes it possible to use polydimethylsiloxane for prototyping chips simulating the porous structure of an oil rock

Анализ параметров активной фазированной антенной решетки радиотелескопа ГУРТ

Представлены методика расчета и результаты численного анализа параметров активной фазированной антенной решетки (АФАР) Гигантского украинского радиотелескопа (ГУРТ) декаметрового и метрового диапазонов волн, который сооружается в настоящее время вблизи г. Харькова на территории Радиоастрономической обсерватории им. С. Я. Брауде Радиоастрономического института Национальной академии наук Украины. Методика базируется на матричной теории антенных решеток, сочетающей в себе электродинамический подход к анализу решетки излучателей с методами теории многополюсников СВЧ для описания фидерной схемы АФАР. Приведены и проанализированы результаты численного расчета эффективной площади АФАР и коэффициента передачи, который в случае пассивной ФАР ассоциируется с КПД, в широком секторе сканирования луча в диапазоне частот 10- 80 МГц.Надаються методика розрахунку та результати числового аналізу параметрів активної фазованої антенної решітки (АФАР) Гігантського українського радіотелескопу (ГУРТ) декаметрового та метрового діапазонів хвиль, що наразі споруджується поблизу м. Харкова на території Радіоастрономічної обсерваторії ім. С. Я. Брауде Радіоастрономічного інституту Національної академії наук України. Методика базується на матричній теорії антенних решіток, що поєднує електродинамічний підхід до аналізу решітки випромінювачів з методами теорії багатополюсників НВЧ для опису фідерної схеми АФАР. Наведені та проаналізовані результати числового розрахунку ефективної площі АФАР та коефіцієнту передачі, що в разі пасивної ФАР асоціюється з ККД, у широкому секторі сканування променя в діапазоні частот 10 - 80 МГц.The calculation technique results of numerical analysis of parameters of active phased antenna array (APAA) of the Giant Ukrainian Radio Telescope (GURT) of decameter and meter wavelengths which is being built now nearby Kharkiv at the area of S. Ya. Braude Radio Astronomy Observatory of the Institute of Radio Astronomy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine are presented. The technique is based on the matrix theory of antenna arrays which combines an electromagnetic approach to analysis of radiators array with the methods of microwave multiport theory for the APAA feed network description. The results of numerical calculation of the APAA effective area and its gain, which in case of passive array is associated with its efficiency, are given and analyzed for a wide scan range within 10 to 80 MHz

Plasticity of Adipose Tissue-Derived Stem Cells and Regulation of Angiogenesis

Adipose tissue is recognized as an important organ with metabolic, regulatory, and plastic roles. Adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ASCs) with self-renewal properties localize in the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) being present in a vascular niche, thereby, contributing to local regulation of angiogenesis and vessel remodeling. In the past decades, ASCs have attracted much attention from biologists and bioengineers, particularly, because of their multilineage differentiation potential, strong proliferation, and migration abilities in vitro and high resistance to oxidative stress and senescence. Current data suggest that the SVF serves as an important source of endothelial progenitors, endothelial cells, and pericytes, thereby, contributing to vessel remodeling and growth. In addition, ASCs demonstrate intriguing metabolic and interlineage plasticity, which makes them good candidates for creating regenerative therapeutic protocols, in vitro tissue models and microphysiological systems, and tissue-on-chip devices for diagnostic and regeneration-supporting purposes. This review covers recent achievements in understanding the metabolic activity within the SVF niches (lactate and NAD+ metabolism), which is critical for maintaining the pool of ASCs, and discloses their pro-angiogenic potential, particularly, in the complex therapy of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases

Microfluidic Study of the Effect of Nanosuspensions on Enhanced Oil Recovery

The essential advantages of microfluidic studies are the excellent visualization of the processes of oil displacement from the porous medium model, simple cleaning, and the possibility of the repeated use of the microfluidic chip. The present article deals with the process of oil displacement by suspension flooding using a microfluidic chip, simulating a porous medium, and the suspensions of silicon dioxide nanoparticles (22 nm). The mass concentration of nanoparticles in suspensions ranged from 0.1 to 2 wt%. Five mass concentrations (0.125 wt%, 0.25 wt%, 0.5 wt%, 1 wt% and 2 wt%) were considered. The article presents the experimental photographs of the oil displacement process by water and SiO2 suspension. It is shown that, with the increasing concentration of nanoparticles, the oil recovery factor increases. A significant effect is observed at 0.5 wt% concentration of nanoparticles. It is shown that the increase in oil recovery during flooding by SiO2 suspension with the maximum concentration was 16%

Handheld Enzymatic Luminescent Biosensor for Rapid Detection of Heavy Metals in Water Samples

Enzymatic luminescent systems are a promising tool for rapid detection of heavy metals ions for water quality assessment. Nevertheless, their widespread use is limited by the lack of test procedure automation and available sensitive handheld luminometers. Herein we describe integration of disposable microfluidic chips for bioluminescent enzyme-inhibition based assay with a handheld luminometer, which detection system is based on a thermally stabilized silicon photomultiplier (SiPM). Microfluidic chips were made of poly(methyl methacrylate) by micro-milling method and sealed using a solvent bonding technique. The composition of the bioluminescent system in microfluidic chip was optimized to achieve higher luminescence intensity and storage time. Results indicate that developed device provided comparable sensitivity with bench-scale PMT-based commercial luminometers. Limit of detection for copper (II) sulfate reached 2.5 mg/L for developed biosensor. Hereby we proved the concept of handheld enzymatic optical biosensors with disposable chips for bioassay. The proposed biosensor can be used as an early warning field-deployable system for rapid detection of heavy metals salts and other toxic chemicals, which affect bioluminescent signal of enzymatic reaction

Droplet Reactors with Bioluminescent Enzymes for Real-Time Water Pollution Monitoring

Early detection of pollutants in wastewater, water coming out of treatment facilities, drinking water, and water for agricultural needs is a challenging problem. Effective water quality monitoring requires development of new methods for express detection of pollutants. Enzymes from bioluminescent bacteria can be used for the development of new express enzyme-based bioassay systems. This work demonstrates, for the first time, a microfluidic chip to generate emulsion droplets containing two enzymes of the bacterial bioluminescent system (luciferase and NAD(P)H:FMN-oxidoreductase) with reaction substrates. The developed chip generated “water-in-oil” emulsion droplets with a volume of 0.1 μL and a frequency of up to 12 droplets per second. A portable photomultiplier tube (PMT) was used to measure the bioluminescent signal in each individual droplet; the signal-to-noise ratio was 3000/1. The intensity of luminescence in droplets depended on the concentration of copper ions. The limit of detection (LOD) for copper sulfate was 1 mg/L. We showed that bioluminescent enzymatic reactions can be carried out in droplet reactors that can be applied for online monitoring of water quality. Thus, the suggested method of biological measurements has a good perspective for biosensing in general

Fluid Viscosity Measurement by Means of Secondary Flow in a Curved Channel

This article presents a new approach to determining the viscosity of Newtonian fluid. The approach is based on the analysis of the secondary Dean flow in a curved channel. The study of the flow patterns of water and aqueous solutions of glycerin in a microfluidic chip with a U-microchannel was carried out. The advantages of a microfluidic viscometer based on a secondary Dean flow are its simplicity, quickness, and high accuracy in determining the viscosity coefficient of a liquid. A viscosity image in a short movie represents fluid properties. It is revealed that the viscosity coefficient can be determined by the dependence of the recirculation angle of the secondary Dean flow. The article provides a correlation between the Dean number and the flow recirculation angle. The results of the field experiment, presented in the article, correlate with the data obtained using computational fluid dynamics and allow for selecting parameters to create microfluidic viscometers with a U-shaped microchannel