Is contact-line mobility a material parameter?

Dynamic wetting phenomena are typically described by a constitutive law relating the dynamic contact angle θ to contact-line velocity U. The so-called Davis-Hocking model is noteworthy for its simplicity and relates θ to U through a contact-line mobility parameter M, which has historically been used as a fitting parameter for the particular solid-liquid-gas system. The recent experimental discovery of Xia & Steen (2018) has led to the first direct measurement of M for inertial-capillary motions.

A novel method for rapid and quantitative detection of bisphenol A in urine.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is classified as an endocrine disruptor (ED) and it can interact with variety of hormone receptors leading to hormonal disruption and increased risk of various adverse health effects. Reducing human exposure to BPA is one of the main challenges of public health, as it is constantly present in daily life. A low-cost and commonly applied method to enable determination of BPA in the patient's body has yet to be developed.

Switchable Wettability for Condensation Heat Transfer.

Condensation proceeds as dropwise or filmwise depending on the wettability of the condensing surface. These two modes of condensation have disparate heat transfer coefficients, with dropwise often exceeding filmwise. This work reports a surface with switchable superhydrophilic to hydrophobic wetting behavior that can exhibit both modes of condensation.

Hypomethylation of the c-myc promoter region induced by phenobarbital in rat liver.

Background: The changes in DNA methylation are considered as one of the early events in hepatocarcinogenesis.

Objective: We evaluated the ability of phenobarbital (PB) – the most widely used anticonvulsant worldwide and classical rodent liver carcinogen – to cause the promoter region of the c-myc protooncogene hypomethylation as well as changes of mRNA level of this gene. Moreover, the expression of Dnmt1 protein in rat treated with this compound was analyzed.

Nanomaterials in food contact materials; considerations for risk assessment.

Nanotechnology applications in the food industry, including food contact materials, offer many potential benefits for consumers and manufacturers alike. The article discusses the migration of nanoparticles from food contact materials and the possible health risks associated with in the context of insufficient knowledge of the potential exposure to nanomaterial. The importance of gaps in the general knowledge on the behaviour and biological interactions of nanomaterials in biological systems becomes crucial for risk assessment.