219 research outputs found
Electrokinetic Control of Viscous Fingering
We present a theory of the interfacial stability of two immiscible
electrolytes under the coupled action of pressure gradients and electric fields
in a Hele-Shaw cell or porous medium. Mathematically, our theory describes a
phenomenon of "Vector Laplacian Growth", in which the interface moves in
response to the gradient of a vector-valued potential function through a
generalized mobility tensor. Physically, we extend classical Saffman-Taylor
problem to electrolytes by incorporating electrokinetic phenomena. A surprising
prediction is that viscous fingering can be controlled by varying the injection
ratio of electric current to flow rate. Beyond a critical injection ratio,
stability depends only upon the relative direction of flow and current,
regardless of the viscosity ratio. Possible applications include porous
materials processing, electrically enhanced oil recovery, and electrokinetic
remediation of contaminated soils.Comment: * Fixed a few typos * Added new discussion of possible liquid pairs *
Added new reference
Freezing point depression and freeze-thaw damage by nano-fuidic salt trapping
A remarkable variety of organisms and wet materials are able to endure
temperatures far below the freezing point of bulk water. Cryo-tolerance in
biology is usually attributed to "anti-freeze" proteins, and yet massive
supercooling (C) is also possible in porous media containing only
simple aqueous electrolytes. For concrete pavements, the common wisdom is that
freeze-thaw damage results from the expansion of water upon freezing, but this
cannot explain the large pressures (~MPa) required to damage concrete,
the observed correlation between pavement damage and de-icing salts, or the
damage of cement paste loaded with benzene (which contracts upon freezing). In
this Letter, we propose a different mechanism -- nanofluidic salt trapping --
which can explain the observations, using simple mathematical models of
dissolved ions confined to thin liquid films between growing ice and charged
surfaces. Although trapped salt lowers the freezing point, ice nucleation in
charged pores causes enormous disjoining pressures via the rejected ions, until
their removal by precipitation or surface adsorption at a lower temperatures
releases the pressure and allows complete freezing. The theory is able to
predict the non-monotonic salt-concentration dependence of freeze-thaw damage
in concreter and provides a general framework to understand the origins of
cryo-tolerance.Comment: 5 figure
Dielectric breakdown by electric-field induced phase separation
The control of the dielectric and conductive properties of device-level
systems is important for increasing the efficiency of energy- and
information-related technologies. In some cases, such as neuromorphic
computing, it is desirable to increase the conductivity of an initially
insulating medium by several orders of magnitude, resulting in effective
dielectric breakdown. Here, we show that by tuning the value of the applied
electric field in systems { with variable permittivity and electric
conductivity}, e.g. ion intercalation materials, we can vary the device-level
electrical conductivity by orders of magnitude. We attribute this behavior to
the formation of filament-like conductive domains that percolate throughout the
system, { which form only when the electric conductivity depends on the
concentration}. We conclude by discussing the applicability of our results in
neuromorphic computing devices and Li-ion batteries.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure
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Investigating the effect of vitamin D vaginal suppository on sexual function among postmenopausal women: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Background: Menopause is associated with changes in sexual function which are partly due to vaginal atrophy in response to estrogen reduction. Estrogen administration temporarily reduces the symptoms of vaginal dryness, but long-term exposure to this drug is likely to be associated with serious complications. Considering the promising results of previous studies concerning the effect of vitamin D on vaginal dryness, the proposed study will investigate the effect of vitamin D vaginal suppository on the sexual function of postmenopausal women.
Methods: In a randomized, controlled clinical trial, 105 postmenopausal women will be randomly assigned to three groups receiving vitamin D vaginal suppository, placebo vaginal suppository, or control (no intervention). Vitamin D vaginal suppositories contain 1000āunits of vitamin D3. The timing of the use of vitamin D vaginal suppositories and placebo suppositories will be every night in the first 2 weeks, and every other night in the following 6 weeks (8 weeks in total). The primary outcome will be the sexual function of participants which will be assessed using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) before and immediately after the intervention, and at 1 and 2 months after the end of the intervention. The side effects of these suppositories will be examined as a secondary consequence of the study. Data will be analyzed using SPSS software version 25. In the case of normal distribution of data, the mean score of sexual function will be compared between the groups using a repeated measurements ANOVA. If statistical analysis leads to significant results, the post-hoc test will be used to determine the differences between the groups. Comparison of demographic and fertility characteristics of the women will be carried out using statistical tests such as chi-squares and t-tests. A significance level of pā[less than]ā.05 will be used for statistical analyses.
Discussion: If vitamin D vaginal suppositories improve sexual function among premenopausal women with long-term effects and minimum side effects, the suppositories will be considered a safe complementary and alternative choice for alleviating sexual dysfunction among this group
Freezing point depression and freeze-thaw damage by nanofluidic salt trapping
A remarkable variety of organisms and wet materials are able to endure temperatures far below the freezing point of bulk water. Cryotolerance in biology is usually attributed to āantifreezeā proteins, and yet massive supercooling (10 MPa) required to damage concrete, the observed correlation between pavement damage and deicing salts, or the FT damage of cement paste loaded with benzene (which contracts upon freezing). In this work, we propose a different mechanismānanofluidic salt trappingāwhich can explain the observations, using simple mathematical models of dissolved ions confined between growing ice and charged pore surfaces. When the transport time scale for ions through charged pore space is prolonged, ice formation in confined pores causes enormous disjoining pressures via the ions rejected from the ice core, until their removal by precipitation or surface adsorption at lower temperatures releases the pressure and allows complete freezing. The theory is able to predict the nonmonotonic salt-concentration dependence of FT damage in concrete and provides some hint to better understand the origins of cryotolerance from a physical chemistry perspective
Vortices of Electro-osmotic Flow in Heterogeneous Porous Media
Traditional models of electrokinetic transport in porous media are based on
homogenized material properties, which neglect any macroscopic effects of
microscopic fluctuations. This perspective is taken not only for convenience,
but also motivated by the expectation of irrotational electro-osmotic flow,
proportional to the electric field, for uniformly charged surfaces (or constant
zeta potential) in the limit of thin double layers. Here, we show that the
inherent heterogeneity of porous media generally leads to macroscopic vortex
patterns, which have important implications for convective transport and
mixing. These vortical flows originate due to competition between
pressure-driven and electro-osmotic flows, and their size are characterized by
the correlation length of heterogeneity in permeability or surface charge. The
appearance of vortices is controlled by a single dimensionless control
parameter, defined as the ratio of a typical electro-osmotic velocity to the
total mean velocity
Capillary stress and structural relaxation in moist granular materials
We propose a theoretical framework to calculate capillary stresses in complex
mesoporous materials, such as moist sand, nanoporous hydrates, and drying
colloidal films. Molecular simulations are mapped onto a phase-field model of
the liquid-vapor mixture, whose inhomogeneous stress tensor is integrated over
Voronoi polyhedra in order to calculate equal and opposite forces between each
pair of neighboring grains. The method is illustrated by simulations of
moisture-induced forces in small clusters and random packings of spherical
grains using lattice-gas Density Functional Theory. For a nano-granular model
of cement hydrates, this approach reproduces the hysteretic water
sorption/desorption isotherms and predicts drying shrinkage strain isotherm in
good agreement with experiments. We show that capillary stress is an effective
mechanism for internal stress relaxation in colloidal random packings, which
contributes to the extraordinary durability of cement paste.Comment: 4 figure
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Effect of vitamin D vaginal suppository on sexual functioning among postmenopausal women: a three-arm randomized controlled clinical trial
Objective: Vaginal atrophy, the second most common complication of menopause, can lead to sexual dysfunction. This study evaluated the effect of a vitamin D vaginal suppository on sexual functioning in postmenopausal women.
Methods:This three-arm randomized controlled trial was conducted between August 2019 and August 2020. The sample comprised 105 postmenopausal women who were referred to comprehensive health service centers to receive postmenopausal care. The inclusion criteria were as follows: (i) being menopausal for at least 1 year, (ii) being married, (iii) being sexually active, and (iv) having sexual desire. Participants were randomly assigned to three groups for 8 weeks of treatment: intervention (vaginal suppository containing 1,000 units of vitamin D3), placebo (vaginal suppository placebo), or control (no treatment). The main outcome measure was sexual functioning, which was assessed using the Female Sexual Function Scale (FSFI) 4 times during the study (i.e., 1 month before the intervention, immediately after the intervention, 1 month after the intervention, and 2 months after the intervention).
Results: Immediately and 1 month after the trial, the intervention group had the highest FSFI score, followed by the placebo group, both of which were significantly higher than those of the control group (P<0.05). At the 2-month follow-up, the intervention and placebo groups had similar FSFI scores (P=0.08), both of which were significantly higher than those in the control group (P=0.001 and P=0.03, respectively).
Conclusion: Vitamin D vaginal suppositories were more effective at improving sexual functioning among postmenopausal women in the short-term and appeared to prevent aging-related sexual functioning decline in the long term
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