CFD simulation and analysis of emulsion droplet formation from straight-through microchannels

We recently proposed a technique for preparing monodisperse emulsions with a coefficient of variation below 5% from a silicon array of micrometer-sized channels perpendicular to the plate surface, named a straight-through microchannel (MC). This study involved three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to calculate the formation of an oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion droplet from straight-through MCs with circular and elliptic cross sections. The CFD results demonstrated that the oil phase that passed through the elliptic MCs exceeding a threshold aspect ratio between 3 and 3.5 was cut off spontaneously into a small droplet with a diameter of approximately 40 microm. Sufficient space for water at the channel exit had to be maintained for successful droplet formation. The formation and shrinkage of a neck inside the channel caused an increased pressure difference inside the channel and an increased velocity value near the neck. The pressure and velocity values at the neck drastically changed, and the neck was cut off instantaneously just before the completion of droplet formation. This process was triggered by a gradually increased pressure difference between the circular neck and inflating oil phase. The findings obtained in this paper provide useful numerical and visual information about the droplet formation phenomena from the straight-through MCs. The CFD results were verified by the experimental results, showing that the CFD approach can help design a suitable channel structure.     

Application of 28Mg to the kinetic study of Mg uptake by rice plants

The time course of Mg uptake and release using intact rice plants and ²⁸Mg as a tracer is presented. Since there is no conventional Mg tracer available, ²⁸Mg was produced via ²⁷Al(α, 3p)²⁸Mg reaction using a cyclotron. Using the purified ²⁸Mg tracer, it was found that the uptake amount of ²⁸Mg by the rice plants increased linearly during 30 min of application. After ²⁸Mg treatment for 90 min, the roots were sequentially washed with iced solution for 120 min. Within about 10 min, almost all of the ²⁸Mg, that was thought to be weakly bound to the apoplast, was washed away.     

119Sn Mössbauer study of the CePtSn Kondo compound

We have measured¹¹⁹Sn Mössbauer spectra of the CePtSn and (Ce_0.9La_0.1)NiSn compounds in the range from 1.5 to 293 K. In CePtSn, the spectra observed above 8 K are well explained by an electric quadrupole interaction. The spectral shape changes below 8 K due to the presence of a magnetic hyperfine field produced by the ordering of the Ce magnetic moments. We have analyzed these spectra assuming an incommensurate magnetic structure. The temperature dependence of the magnetic hyperfine field matches with anS=1/2 mean field curve with a step at 5 K. In (Ce_0.9La_0.1)NiSn, no magnetic order exists down to 1.5 K.     

Total Valuation Rings of Ore Extensions

We consider extensions of a total valuation ring V of a skew field K to the Ore extension K(X;σ, δ) for an endomorphism σ of K and a σ-derivation δ. It is shown that there exists an extension R of V with X ∈ R, such that ${\overline X}$ is transcendental over V/J(V) if and only if (σ,δ) is compatible with V, where ${\overline X} = X + J(R^(1))$ . In the case V is invariant, it is established that there is an invariant extension R of V in K(X;σ,δ) such that ${\overline X}$ is transcendental if and only if σ(a)V = aV and δ(a) ∈ aV for all a ∈ K.