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Background: Electrical impedance (EI) is a property of all living tissues and represents the resistance to the electric current flow through a living tissue. EI depends on the structure and chemical composition of the tissue. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of age, sex, and electrode pressure on the EI values of healthy oral mucosa. The study involved 101 participants with healthy oral mucosa who were divided into three age groups. EI was measured in seven anatomical regions. Results: Significant differences between different age groups were found. Younger participants (20–40 years) had significantly higher EI values than the older participants (60+). Significantly higher EI values were found in women at all localisations at all measured frequencies, except on the hard palate. EI values measured with higher sub-pressure were significantly lower than values measured with lower sub-pressure at all frequencies and localisations, except the tongue dorsum, tongue border, and sublingual mucosa. Conclusions: This study found that EI values in healthy oral mucosa depend on age and sex and may also depend on the pressure of the measuring device. These factors should be kept in mind when EI is used as a diagnostic method for different oral lesions.

Deionized water is replacing fluorinated liquids as the preferred choice for two-phase immersion cooling in data centers. Yet, insufficient bubble removal capability at low saturated pressure is a key challenge hindering the widespread application. To solve this issue, this study employs non-ionic surfactant (Tween 20) and asymmetric structures (expanding microchannel) to enhance the boiling performances of deionized water under sub-atmospheric pressure. The research examines the effects of pressure (8.8~38.5 kPa), surfactant concentration (0.1~0.5 mL/L), and heat flux density (10~180 W/cm2) on the boiling heat transfer characteristics and analyzes the mechanism of unusual temperature oscillations induced by surfactants. It was found that the trade-off between the sub-atmospheric pressure, surface tension coefficient, and reduced static contact angle results in pronounced intermittent boiling on the heated surface. Even with the addition of surfactants, the improvement in heat transfer requires demanding conditions. Boiling enhancement throughout all heat flux conditions was achieved when the surfactant concentration was higher than 0.2 mL/L for the expanding microchanneled surface. The heat transfer coefficient reached 6.89 W·cm−2·K−1 under 8.8 kPa, which was 45% higher than without the surfactant. Under the same heat flux and sub-atmospheric pressure, as the concentration increased from 0.1 to 0.5 mL/L, the amplitudes of temperature fluctuation of the plane surface and expanding microchanneled surface decreased from 10 K to 2 K and 18 K to 1 K, respectively. The onset of nucleate boiling and wall superheat of the expanding microchanneled surface gradually decreased with the increase in surfactant concentration, where the onset of nucleate boiling decreased by 10.54 K. When the heat flux is 160 W/cm2, the wall superheat is reduced by 12.8 K.

The evaporation, autoignition and micro-explosion characteristics of RP-3 kerosene droplets under sub-atmospheric pressure (0.2–1.0 bar) and elevated temperature (473–1023 K) were experimentally investigated using high-speed camera technology. The results showed that the droplet evaporation rate increased monotonically with increasing temperature and pressure under 573–873 K and 0.2–1.0 bar. The decrease of temperature and pressure was obviously detrimental to the successful autoignition of droplets and increased the ignition delay time. Autoignitions at 0.2 bar were very difficult and required an ambient temperature of at least 973 K, which was about 150 K higher than the minimum ignition temperature at 1.0 bar. Sub-atmospheric pressure environment significantly inhibits the formation of soot particle clusters during the autoignition of droplet. Reducing pressure was also discovered to reduce the likelihood of micro-explosions at 673, 773 and 823 K but increase the bubble growth rate and droplet breakage intensity. Strong micro-explosions with droplet breakage time close to 1 ms were observed at 0.6 bar and 773/823 K, showing the characteristic of bubble inertia control growth.

To address the problems of the reduced evaporation rate and increased ignition time of kerosene droplets at sub-atmospheric pressures and high temperatures, boron and ethanol/water were selected as additives to be blended with RP-3 kerosene, respectively. The effects of different types of blended fuels on the evaporation, micro-explosion, and spontaneous ignition characteristics of RP-3 kerosene droplets were tested and compared using an independently designed, high-temperature, controlled-pressure experimental droplet system. A low-pressure environment (0.4 bar) promoted the high-intensity micro-explosion of RP-3/B and RP-3/water/ethanol droplets while reducing the number of puffing events. A comparative study of RP-3/B and RP-3/ethanol/water found that ethanol/water blended fuels had a higher micro-explosion intensity (1000–10,000 vs. 0.2–15 mm/s) and shorter droplet lifetimes and self-ignition times at low pressure. The 30%water fuel (30 vol.%water in water/ethanol sub-droplet) had the shortest ignition/breakup time, with an ignition time of 0.5715 s at 0.8 bar, 26.92% shorter than RP-3’s 0.782 s. This 30%water fuel mixture can increase the release rate of combustible vapors prior to ignition by inducing puffing and micro-explosions at high temperatures.

The operation and performance of electrospray ionization (ESI) is affected by the surrounding environment. In this study, a compact sub-atmospheric pressure ESI (SAP-ESI) source was designed and fabricated using the 3D printing method. This source has a simple structure and is easy to operate, as the sample solution and auxiliary gas are continuously sucked into the source through the pressure difference. The compact and enclosed ionization chamber can reduce the fluctuation of the surrounding gas flow to ensure a remarkably stable (< 3%) electrospray. Moreover, the source can offer variable SAP conditions for ESI analysis. The yield of analyte ions increases with decreasing pressure, while the production of background ions is suppressed under these conditions. In the analysis of protein samples, SAP-ESI can increase the yield and charge state of ions, which may be due to the reduction of proton transfer between charged proteins and surrounding gas. The SAP-ESI source was then used to continuously monitor the extract aqueous solution of tea leaves, and to detect the carbendazim residues on the apple surface by coupling with the liquid extraction surface analysis technique. Experimental results demonstrate that the developed SAP-ESI is a stable, practical, and versatile ionization technique.

Compression therapy is widely used as the gold standard for management of chronic venous insufficiency and venous leg ulcers, and the amount of pressure applied during the compression therapy is crucial in supporting healing. A fibre optic pressure sensor using Fibre Bragg Gratings (FBGs) is developed in this paper to measure sub-bandage pressure whilst removing cross-sensitivity due to strain in the fibre and temperature. The interface pressure is measured by an FBG encapsulated in a polymer and housed in a textile to minimise discomfort for the patient. The repeatability of a manual fabrication process is investigated by fabricating and calibrating ten sensors. A customized calibration setup consisting of a programmable translation stage and a weighing scale gives sensitivities in the range 0.4–1.5 pm/mmHg (2.6–11.3 pm/kPa). An alternative calibration method using a rigid plastic cylinder and a blood pressure cuff is also demonstrated. Investigations are performed with the sensor under a compression bandage on a phantom leg to test the response of the sensor to changing pressures in static situations. Measurements are taken on a human subject to demonstrate changes in interface pressure under a compression bandage during motion to mimic a clinical application. These results are compared to the current gold standard medical sensor using a Bland–Altman analysis, with a median bias ranging from −4.6 to −20.4 mmHg, upper limit of agreement (LOA) from −13.5 to 2.7 mmHg and lower LOA from −32.4 to −7.7 mmHg. The sensor has the potential to be used as a training tool for nurses and can be left in situ to monitor bandage pressure during compression therapy.

Pool fires are one of the most common types of fires. This study experimentally investigates the mass loss rate and flame heights of heptane pool fires dominated by conduction or convection under different atmospheric pressures and aspect ratios. In terms of mass loss rate, the results show that the mass loss rate of the pool fires dominated by conduction does not change significantly with the change of pressure (except for the aspect ratio being 8). However, the mass loss rate of pool fires dominated by convection significantly increases 20–40% with the increase of pressure. The reason of mass loss rate increasing with pressure is explained in detail. In terms of flame heights, the correlation between the dimensionless flame height ( Z f / D ∗ ) and dimensionless heat release rate ( Q ˙ ∗ ) for different atmospheric pressures and aspect ratios is proposed. At the same time, the relationship between flame height and air entrainment coefficient is established, based on the relationship between air entrainment coefficient and atmospheric pressure obtained from previous work. This work can help to understand the evolution of fire dynamics and facilitate risk assessment for the early stage of the pool fires at low pressure.

Venous ulcers account for over 80% of chronic wounds in the lower extremities. Venous ulcers lead to a significant decrease in the patients' quality of life. To compare the effectiveness of two different sub-bandage pressure values on healing and quality of life outcomes. The study included 116 outpatients with venous leg ulcers (VLUs), one group with a moderate compression pressure of 35-40 mm Hg and the second with a high pressure > 45 mm Hg. The Kaplan-Meier curve and log rank test were used to estimate healing by type of compression. Quality of life measures included: Quality of Life Index (QL), Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Patients were followed for 24 weeks. Kaplan-Maier analysis showed that a high pressure leads to a higher proportion of healed VLUs, compared to the moderate pressure ( = 0.011). QL, GDS and NPRS at the beginning were equalized between the groups. In patients with a high compression, there was a statistically significant increase in QL ( = 0.005), decrease in GDS ( = 0.040) and NPRS ( = 0.002) during 24 weeks. In patients with moderate compressions there was a statistically significant increase in QL ( = 0.013). Patients who received high pressure, healed faster. When a high pressure was applied, there was a statistically significant increase in QL, decrease in GDS and NPRS compared to the group of patients to whom the moderate pressure was applied.

This study investigates and quantifies the soot free length ( L b ) and soot free length fraction ( SFLF ) of methane laminar diffusion flames at sub-atmospheric pressures (20–100  kPa ), which are rarely reported in literature. Methane-buoyant laminar diffusion flames are produced using a circular aperture burner with an inner diameter of 8 mm, and a series of fire tests is conducted in a hypobaric chamber with internal dimensions of 3 × 2 × 2 m . The mass flow rates in this study are set to 2.988–8.365 mg s −1 . The results indicate that for steady and tip-flickering flames, the total flame length increases with pressure L f ∼ P 1 / 5 . However, for bulk-flickering flames, the total flame length is nearly constant with L f ∼ P 0 . Additionally, both L b and SFLF decrease with an increasing ambient air pressure. For a given pressure, both the L b and SFLF decrease with an increasing mass flow rate (or heat release rate). The Reynolds number ( Re ), which has been successfully used to characterize the L b and the SFLF of buoyant turbulent jet flames, fails with buoyant laminar diffusion flames. The dimensionless soot free length correlates well with the nondimensional heat release rate. Moreover, a prediction correlation for the SFLF of methane-buoyant laminar diffusion flames is developed, which could effectively unify the experimental data in the current work.

The burning state of a plateau environment is attracting more and more attention. In this paper, in order to have a deeper scientific understanding of diesel spray combustion and the characteristics of a flame under different spray cone angles in a plateau environment, experiments were carried out in a low pressure chamber. The flame morphology was recorded by a high speed video instrument, and the temperature change was recorded by a thermal imager and thermocouples. The MATLAB programming was used to process the video image of the flame, and the probability of its binarization was calculated. The results indicate that the flame becomes longer and wider under different pressures with the same spray angle. The variation is more pronounced at a smaller spray taper angle. The flame uplifted height characteristic is mainly negatively related to the atmospheric pressure. According to the normalized flame temperature and the dimensionless horizontal projection, the length can be divided into three regions. In the region of buoyancy flame, the dimensionless temperature varies with sub-atmospheric pressure more than with normal pressure. In addition, under different spray cone angle conditions, the law of variation in the normalized flame temperature under sub-atmospheric pressure is exactly opposite to that under normal pressure. This study is of great significance to the scientific research on flames in a low pressure environment, and the design of different fuel nozzles for application in a plateau environment. nema