Monodisperse ethanol droplets 2.4 microm and water droplets 4.5 microm in diameter have been produced in ultrasonic atomization using 1.5- and 1.0-MHz microelectromechanical system (MEMS)-based silicon nozzles, respectively. The 1.5- and 1.0-MHz nozzles, each consisting of 3 Fourier horns in resonance, measured 1.20 cm x 0.15 cm x .11 cm and 1.79 cm x 0.21 cm x 0.11 cm, respectively, required electrical drive power as low as 0.25 W and could accommodate flow rates as high as 350 microl/min. As the liquid issues from the nozzle tip that vibrates longitudinally at the nozzle resonance frequency, a liquid film is maintained on the end face of the nozzle tip and standing capillary waves are formed on the free surface of the liquid film when the tip vibration amplitude exceeds a critical value due to Faraday instability. Temporal instability of the standing capillary waves, treated in terms of the unstable solutions (namely, time-dependant function with a positive Floquet exponent) to the corresponding Mathieu differential equation, is shown to be the underlying mechanism for atomization and production of such monodisperse droplets. The experimental results of nozzle resonance and atomization frequencies, droplet diameter, and critical vibration amplitude are all in excellent agreement with the predictions of the 3-D finite element simulation and the theory of Faraday instability responsible for atomization.

SU MMARYThe purpose of the current study was to determine the effects of dietary docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on fatty acid deposition in egg yolk and various tissues of laying Leghorn hens, and on the expression of hepatic lipogenesis-related transcription factors. There were three treatments with 10 Leghorn hens per treatment. Diets were based on maize-soybean meal (ME : 12 MJ/kg; CP : 171 g/kg ; Ca: 34 g/kg) supplemented with 0 (plus 20 g butter/kg), 5 g (plus 15 g butter/kg) or 20 g algal DHA oil/kg. The egg production of the birds was not affected by dietary DHA oil (P>0 . 05). The DHA content in egg yolks of the laying hens increased significantly (P<0 . 01) with the dietary supplementation of DHA. The DHA content of the total fatty acids in the egg yolk of laying hens was 4¡16, 11¡43 and 20¡90 g/kg for 0, 5 and 20 g/kg DHA treatments, respectively for the first week, and 6¡16, 18¡49 and 31¡86 g/kg for the second week. Therefore, algal DHA oil can be utilized by laying Leghorn hens to enhance egg yolk DHA content and produce high DHA eggs. The concentrations of triacylglycerol (TG) and cholesterol in plasma of laying Leghorn hens were not affected by dietary DHA treatments (P>0 . 005). The DHA content in plasma and livers of laying hens was increased with the addition of DHA in the diet (P<0 . 05). The DHA content in the skeletal muscle of Leghorn hens was also increased with the increase in dietary DHA. The data indicate that dietary DHA oil can be incorporated into plasma, egg yolks and various tissues. The mRNA concentrations of the lipogenesis-related transcription factors, sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 (SREBP1) and SREBP2, in the livers of laying Leghorn hens were not affected by the supplement of algal DHA oil for 2 weeks, suggesting that the expressions of these transcription factors are tightly controlled and not sensitive to DHA treatments in laying hens.

No abstract

We develop a universal hydroxide-assisted strategy for the low thermal budget efficient fabrication of high quality metal oxide thin films.

No abstract