Forced Imbibition - a Tool for Determining Laplace Pressure, Drag Force and Slip Length in Capillary Filling Experiments

When a very thin capillary is inserted into a liquid, the liquid is sucked into it: this imbibition process is controlled by a balance of capillary and drag forces, which are hard to quantify experimentally, in particularly considering flow on the nanoscale. By computer experiments using a generic coarse-grained model, it is shown that an analysis of imbibition forced by a controllable external pressure quantifies relevant physical parameter such as the Laplace pressure, Darcy's permeability, effective pore radius, effective viscosity, dynamic contact angle and slip length of the fluid flowing into the pore. In determining all these parameters independently, the consistency of our analysis of such forced imbibition processes is demonstrated.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Capillary filling with pseudo-potential binary Lattice-Boltzmann model

We present a systematic study of capillary filling for a binary fluid by using a mesoscopic lattice Boltzmann model for immiscible fluids describing a diffusive interface moving at a given contact angle with respect to the walls. The phenomenological way to impose a given contact angle is analysed. Particular attention is given to the case of complete wetting, that is contact angle equal to zero. Numerical results yield quantitative agreement with the theoretical Washburn law, provided that the correct ratio of the dynamic viscosities between the two fluids is used. Finally, the presence of precursor films is experienced and it is shown that these films advance in time with a square-root law but with a different prefactor with respect to the bulk interface.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication on The European journal of physics

Normative Wit: Haydn's Personal Sonata Form

This thesis approaches Haydn’s sonata-form procedures from the perspective of the eighteenth-century listener, asking, if a moment is allegedly “witty” according to modern analysts, would Haydn's contemporary audience have heard it as such? Eighteenth-century wit has two sides: wit involves an aspect of surprise or deception, a breaking of understood norms; however, wit must also involve an unsuspected congruity, a broader connection created only by breaking the aforementioned norm. Taking this as my starting point, I explore false recapitulations in the Haydn’s music, concluding that this device cannot be considered witty because it did not break an understood convention. I then provide detailed analyses of the first movements of Haydn’s “Military” Symphony no. 100 and String Quartet in D major, op. 33 no. 6, arguing that they are witty not solely because they are disruptive, but because this disruption binds the sonata together in an unexpected way

Normative Wit

This article approaches Haydn’s treatment of sonata form from the perspective of the eighteenth-century listener, asking: if a moment is allegedly “witty” according to modern analysts, would Haydn’s contemporary audience have heard it as such? Eighteenth-century wit is a two-sided coin: wit does involve an aspect of surprise or deception, a breaking of understood norms; however, wit must also involve an unsuspected congruity, a larger-scale connection created only by breaking the aforementioned norm. Taking this as my starting point, I provide detailed analyses of the first movements of Haydn’s “Military” Symphony no. 100 and String Quartet in D major, op. 33 no. 6. Compared to the expectations set forth by each exposition, Haydn has recomposed each piece’s respective recapitulation in a significant way. I argue that these pieces are witty in the eighteenth-century sense of the term but not in the sense that the term has been used by recent scholars such as Hepokoski and Darcy, who emphasize the disruptive aspects of wit. Ultimately, I suggest that Haydn can be witty without necessarily being deceptive; wit can involve establishing a kind of unexpected coherence that binds together the recapitulation and another section of a sonata form.</jats:p

Investigation of Antihypertensive Properties of Chios Mastic via Monitoring microRNA-21 Expression Levels in the Plasma of Well-Controlled Hypertensive Patients

Hypertension is a chronic, multifactorial disease, leading to high cardiovascular morbidity and mortality globally. Despite the advantages of pharmaceutical treatments, natural products have gained scientific interest due to their emerging phytotherapeutic properties. Chios mastic is a natural Greek product, consisting of bioactive compounds which modify microRNAs’ (small, expression-regulating molecules) expression. In this study, we investigated the antihypertensive properties of Chios mastic through the assessment of miR-21 levels. Herein, plasma samples of 57 individuals with hypertension, recruited for the purposes of the HYPER-MASTIC study, were analyzed. This was a clinical trial with Chios mastic supplements in which the patients were divided into groups receiving high and low mastic doses and placebo supplements, respectively. miR-21 was significantly upregulated in patients compared to normotensive individuals. Mean changes in miR-21 levels were statistically significant, after adjusting for sex and age, between the placebo and low-dose group and between the low- and high-dose group. Post-intervention miR-21 levels were positively associated with night-time systolic blood pressure, pulse pressure, and central systolic mean arterial pressure and negatively associated with night-time pulse wave velocity in the low-dose group. Our findings suggest a potential implication of miR-21 in the association of Chios mastic with night-time blood pressure measurements