Experience in registration of evaporation of liquid drops on a substrate by the capacitive method

This paper presents the results of an experimental study of the dynamics of evaporation of nanofluid droplets based on distilled water with a mass concentration of SiO2 nanoparticles of 0.1%, 0.5%, and 7% lying on a metal surface. The drop height was changed over time using original equipment, which is based on an integrated approach to the combined use of capacitive and optical recording methods. The experimental results show that the change in the height of nanofluid droplets with concentrations of 0.1%, 0.5%, and 7% is linear over the main part of the evaporation time interval. A deviation from the linear law is observed at the final stage, at the time interval of complete evaporation. The time for complete evaporation of droplets of nanofluids with a concentration of 0.1% increases by 20%, for droplets with a concentration of 0.5%, it increased by 28% in comparison with the evaporation of droplets of the base liquid. The particle concentration of 7% does not lead to an increase in the evaporation time of droplets in comparison with the evaporation of low concentration droplets. Before the formation of a jelly-like residue of nanoparticles, the evaporation rate of droplets with a particle concentration of 7% is comparable to the evaporation rate of droplets with a concentration of 0.1%.

Investigation of heat transfer during evaporation of droplets of Fe3O4 nanofluids from biphilic surfaces

In this work, unique biphilic substrates were prepared with a sharp spatial gradient of the contact angle of wetting. Experimental studies of the process of evaporation of liquid droplets lying on the structured surfaces have been carried out. In the experiment, the dynamics of the temperature of an evaporating droplet was compared depending on its orientation in space. It was found that suspended droplets of 0.1 wt % Fe3O4 nanofluid have a higher evaporation temperature and a higher evaporation rate as compared to sessile droplets.

Midlatitude mixed-phase stratocumulus clouds and their interactions with aerosols: how ice processes affect microphysical, dynamic, and thermodynamic development in those clouds and interactions?

Midlatitude mixed-phase stratocumulus clouds and their interactions with aerosols remain poorly understood. This study examines the roles of ice processes in those clouds and their interactions with aerosols using a large-eddy simulation (LES) framework. Cloud mass becomes much lower in the presence of ice processes and the Wegener–Bergeron–Findeisen (WBF) mechanism in the mixed-phase clouds compared to that in warm clouds. This is because while the WBF mechanism enhances the evaporation of droplets, the low concentration of aerosols acting as ice-nucleating particles (INPs) and cloud ice number concentration (CINC) prevent the efficient deposition of water vapor. Note that the INP concentration in this study is based on the observed spatiotemporal variability of aerosols. This results in the lower CINC compared to that with empirical dependence of the INP concentrations on temperature in a previous study. In the mixed-phase clouds, the increasing concentration of aerosols that act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) decreases cloud mass by increasing the evaporation of droplets through the WBF mechanism and decreasing the intensity of updrafts. In contrast to this, in the warm clouds, the absence of the WBF mechanism makes the increase in the evaporation of droplets inefficient, eventually enabling cloud mass to increase with the increasing concentration of aerosols acting as CCN. Here, the results show that when there is an increasing concentration of aerosols that act as INPs, the deposition of water vapor is more efficient than when there is the increasing concentration of aerosols acting as CCN, which in turn enables cloud mass to increase in the mixed-phase clouds.

Review of crystallization processes applied for diagnosis and homeopathic research

Background: The present study makes part of the project ‘Systematic Review of Crystallization Processes Applied for Medical Purposes (SyRCrysMed)’. SyRCrysMed is planned to lead to a publication of three review articles: (i) on crystallization of blood and its derivatives (serum, plasma) for diagnostic purposes, (ii) on crystallization of other biological fluids for diagnostic purposes, and (iii) on crystallization applied to homeopathy (both, basic and clinical research). Medical crystallization is a wide, however fragmented and little known field of science. It embraces different crystallization methodologies and applications. The commune scope of most of the crystallization-based methods is to access a more complex (or different) kind of information on the diagnosed/analyzed subject than it is possible by the use of conventional methods. The underlying thought to this analysis possibility provided by crystallization is that crystallization is an extremely sensitive process and is able to visualize not only the material dimension of the sample (e.g. composition), but also immaterial forces (e.g. force-like effects, sample’s vitality). This sensitivity of crystallization encouraged some researchers (both in the past and nowadays) to apply this process also in homeopathic research. Here we present a first summary of the crystallization-based methodologies with focus on these applied in homeopathy. Materials and methods: 177 articles, books, and book chapters on medical crystallization have been collected from scientific databases, university libraries, and the library at the Goetheanum in Dornach/Switzerland. The collected literature was divided into experimental studies and other literature. All methodologies described in the experimental studies were summarized in accordance to following criteria: type of the biological fluid, dilution degree of the fluid in the crystallizing solution, presence and type of reagent in the crystallizing solution, amount of the crystallizing solution per pattern, type of diagnosed disorder, and sensitivity and specificity of the method. Results: The different diagnostic methodologies concerned mainly the crystallization of blood, plasma, serum and saliva, however also tears, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, vaginal mucosa, and sweat were used. The concentration of the sample in the crystallizing solution ranged from 100% to trace amounts. In case of diluted samples additions of salts, amino acids, neurotransmitters were used. The volume of the crystallization solution per pattern ranged from 3 μl to 6ml. The evaporation took place on a glass surface in forms of droplets, smears, or on round dishes (10cm diameter). The methodologies were applied for the diagnoses of cancer (different types and stages, including pre-symptomatic diagnosis), other diseases (e.g. diabetes, hepatitis B&C, multiple sclerosis, tuberculosis, cystic fibrosis, Sjogren’s syndrome, gastro-intestinal disorders, colon polyps, senile dementia), and physiological stages (fertility days and pregnancy in women, differences before and after physical activity). Finally, the mean sensitivity of the methods amounted to 82.1% (from 40.6% to 100%) and the mean specificity to 84.9% (from 62.3% to 96.7%). In overall the experimental methodologies can be divided into following groups: - Evaporation of droplets of an undiluted biological fluid, - Evaporation of droplets of a diluted biological fluid with addition of salts, - Evaporation of droplets of a diluted biological fluid with addition of salts and amino acids, - Evaporation of droplets containing salts, amino acids and neurotransmitters, - Evaporation of droplets of a watery solution of ashes of a biological fluid (spagyric crystallization), - Evaporation of films/smears of an undiluted biological fluid (ferning tests), - Evaporation of larger amounts of crystallizing solution of a strongly diluted biological fluid with addition of copper chloride placed on dishes (Pfeiffer’s crystallization), Within the analyzed literature there were 10 works on crystallization applied for homeopathy. They concerned three different crystallization approaches, all characterized by a low concentration of the analyzed sample in the crystallization solution (from 1% to trace amounts), or even its absence. These methodologies, besides blood, concerned also plant models and crystallization of the homeopathic preparations by themselves (without a biological sample). In these approaches the crystallization took place with or without the addition of a reagent (salt). Summary & Conclusions: Our preliminary results indicate that crystallization based methods might constitute in future valid, non-invasive, and cost-saving tools enabling, inter alia, pre-symptomatic cancer diagnosis. The studies on crystallization based methods applied to homeopathic research point at a great potential of these methodologies for both basic research and possibly also clinical applications and screening tests. Disclosure Information: The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Features of Urea influence on physicochemical properties of working solutions of insecticides

Goal. To study the effect of Urea on the properties of working solutions of emulsions and suspensions of chemical and microbiological drugs in plant protection against pests. Methods. Information-analytical analysis of the effectiveness of joint use of insecticides with Urea. Laboratory experiments on the effect of Urea on: evaporation of droplets from the treated surface; surface tension; reaction of the medium of suspensions and emulsions of working solutions of chemical and microbiological preparations. To do this, in aqueous solutions of insecticides and biological products in concentrations recommended for use in field crops, was added 0.2% aqueous solution of Urea. After a certain period of time, the characteristics of the solutions were determined. An analytical generalization of the change in the properties of working solutions under the influence of urea is carried out. Results. The information on the possibilities of joint use of insecticides and microbiological preparations with Urea in a single technological process is generalized. Their combination leads to a significant reduction in the evaporation of solution droplets from the treated surface, but does not affect the surface tension and reaction of the solutions. Conclusions. Urea is an active anti-evaporator of working solutions of insecticides of various nature. Adding it to the solutions of evaporation of drops from the treated surface reduces more than 1.5 times. It does not significantly affect the surface tension and reaction of the solution. This characteristic of the solutions is maintained for 24 hours after preparation.

Mid-latitude mixed-phase stratocumulus clouds and their interactions with aerosols: how ice processes affect microphysical, dynamic and thermodynamic development in those clouds and interactions?

Mid-latitude mixed-phase stratocumulus clouds and their interactions with aerosols remain poorly understood. This study examines the roles of ice processes in those clouds and interactions using a large-eddy simulation (LES) framework. Cloud mass becomes much lower in the presence of ice processes and the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen (WBF) mechanism in the mixed-phase clouds as compared to that in warm clouds. This is because while the WBF mechanism enhances the evaporation of droplets, the low concentration of aerosols as ice nuclei (IN) and cloud ice number concentration (CINC) prevent the efficient deposition of water vapor whose mass is contributed by the evaporation. In the mixed-phase clouds, the increasing concentration of aerosols that act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) decreases cloud mass by increasing the evaporation of droplets through the WBF mechanism and decreasing the intensity of updrafts. In contrast to this, in the warm clouds, the absence of the WBF mechanism makes the increase in the evaporation of droplets inefficient, eventually enabling cloud mass to increase with the increasing concentration of aerosols as CCN. Here, the results show that when there is an increasing concentration of aerosols that act as IN, the deposition of water vapor is more efficient than when there is the increasing concentration of aerosols as CCN, which in turn enables cloud mass to increase in the mixed-phase clouds.