The concept of tiny machines capable of selectively transporting particles between two compartments by Brownian motion dates back to the 19th century when James Clerk Maxwell pondered the significance of a hypothetical ‘sorting demon’ being able to perform such a task adiabatically. This thesis report the design, synthesis and operation of a compartmentalized molecular machine in which the distribution of a Brownian particle, the macrocycle in a rotaxane, is controlled by using the lightinduced transmission of information to lower a kinetic barrier according to the location of the particle. For an ensemble of such machines the particle distribution is driven further and further away from equilibrium, providing a non-adiabatic realization of Maxwell’s pressure demon in molecular form. The nanomachine does not break the Second Law of Thermodynamics because the energy cost of the information transfer is met by externally supplied photons. As the molecular structure can be understood in chemical terms, it is possible in this experimental system to pin-point precisely how information is traded for energy. Intriguingly, the chemical mechanism can also be understood in terms of game theory. This is the first example of a synthetic molecular machine designed to operate via an information ratchet mechanism, where knowledge of the object’s position is used to control its transport away from equilibrium.

This study is dedicated to investigation of soot formed during combustion in diesel engine. Measurements were performed in a high speed direct injection optical diesel engine. Initially soot particle size, size distribution and soot volume fraction were investigated using time resolved laser induced incandescence (TR-LII) technique. For this study standard diesel fuel was used and measurements were performed for various injection timing and two different engine loads. Investigation showed that TR-LII is a powerful tool that can be used for characterization of in-cylinder soot in the engines. Subsequently TR-LII technique was developed to measure in-cylinder soot in two dimensional plane (planar laser induced incandescence PLII) and technique was combined with high speed imaging to investigate soot processes for ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) and bio-fuel (RME). Two injection strategies of single and double injection were applied during these measurements. A high speed imaging technique was used to study the soot formation and oxidation during the combustion process within the cylinder and PLII was applied later in the stroke to study qualitatively the relative amount of un-oxidised soot that was left in the combustion chamber. In addition to PLII, TR-LII technique was used simultaneously to explore crank angle resolved variation of primary soot particle size and their size distribution during the expansion stroke. The same measurements were repeated for fuels with different composition investigating the relationship between the fuel properties and soot emission. Finally mathematical model for soot particle size and distribution width was modified by introducing assumption of multi-lognormal in-cylinder soot particle size distribution.

Ultrafine particles (UFPs) are present in the ambient atmosphere and are generated from atmospheric gases, pollution sources, and combustion. Candles emit carbonaceous soot particles similar to UFPs present in the ambient atmosphere. With the exception of lead, airborne concentrations of candle emissions have not been shown capable of causing cancer or cardiopulmonary disease during normal use. The purpose of this research is to determine the occupational risk associated with candle emissions. Candle studies employ chambers to measure candle emission exposures and assess public health risk. Chambers used in previous studies did not match normal room conditions. They were affected by turbulence and high temperature, which affected particle distribution and constituent concentrations, while making it difficult to extrapolate the results. The chamber designed for this study sought to avoid the problems noted above. This study also employed a room constructed to closely simulate a normal work environment. Candle suppliers and users were surveyed to determine occupational candle use and settings. Scented, unscented, and church candles were measured in both ventilated and unventilated environments. A condensation nuclei counter was used to measure UFPs from candle emissions. Relative to previous chamber designs, results indicated a reduction in candle soot generation, no significant airborne concentrations of metals, and airborne concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), below occupational limits. Scented candles generated more soot than unscented candles. UFP studies have demonstrated only weak associations between ambient UFP exposures and cardiopulmonary disease. However, ambient UFP exposures were used as a benchmark for candle soot exposures. The lifetime average daily dose (LADD) was calculated from the candle soot measurement data and ambient UFP data. Candle soot generated inside the test room ranged from 5.73 x 109 to 1.86 x 1011 number of candle soot particles inhaled daily compared to the 3.25 x1011 to 2.45 x 1012 soot particles inhaled in the ambient environment. The calculated candle soot dose was nearly an order of magnitude less than the calculated ambient dose. The conclusion is that candle emissions do not pose a health risk under normal occupational use.

Soft particle glasses like microgels and compressed emulsions are densely packed, disordered suspensions of deformable particles. Quantitative relationships among the constituent properties and the macroscopic properties of the suspension are determined for their customized design as rheological additives. The microscopic origin of their macroscopic properties is also determined. Advanced characterization techniques like Large Amplitude Oscillatory Shear (LAOS) and microrheology are studied to use them efficiently to characterize these materials. Their microstructure and rheology are investigated through theory, simulations and experiments. Soft particle glasses are used as rheological additives in many applications including coatings, solid inks and textured food and cosmetic products but their formulation is largely empirical. A quantitative connection between their formulation and rheology is critical to enable their rational design. Their microstructure will lead to the microscopic origin of some unique properties in common with other soft crowded materials like intracellular cytoplasm and clays. These are complex fluids and require novel techniques to characterize them. A study of these techniques is essential to efficiently interpret the observations in terms of their macroscopic properties and the microscopic dynamics involved. Particle scale simulations of steady and oscillatory shear flow are developed to predict the nonlinear rheology and microstructure of these glasses. The origin of yielding is determined as escape of particles from their cages giving rise to a shear induced diffusion. Microrheology is studied by developing simulations of a probe particle being pulled at a constant force and the rheological information from microrheology is quantitatively connected to that from bulk rheological measurements. Soft particle glasses develop internal stresses when quenched to a solid state by flow cessation during processing. Experiments are performed to characterize and a priori predict these stresses. Simulations are used to determine the particle scale mechanisms involved in the stress relaxation on flow cessation and the microstructural origin of internal stresses. A pairwise interaction theory is developed for quiescent glasses to quantitatively predict their microstructure and elastic properties. The theory is then extended to sheared glasses to quantitatively predict their nonlinear rheology. The implementation of the pairwise theories is computationally much faster than the full three-dimensional simulations. / text

xii, 122 p. : ill. (some col.) A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Biological molecular motors achieve directed motion and perform work in an environment dominated by thermal noise and in most cases incorporate thermally driven motion into the motor process. Inspired by bio-molecular motors, many other motor systems that incorporate thermal motion have been developed and studied. These motors are broadly referred to as Brownian motors. This dissertation presents simulation studies of two particular Brownian motors, the feedback-controlled flashing ratchet and an artificial molecular motor concept, the results of which not only drive experimental considerations but also illuminate physical behaviors that may be applicable to other Brownian motors. A flashing ratchet rectifies the motion of diffusive particles using a time dependent, asymmetric potential energy landscape, and the transport speed of the ratchet can be increased if information about the particle distribution is incorporated as feedback in the time dependency of the landscape. Using a Langevin Dynamics simulation, we compare two implementations of feedback control, a discrete algorithm and a continuous algorithm, and find that the discrete algorithm is less sensitive to fluctuations in the particle distribution. We also model an experimental system with time delay and find that the continuous algorithm can be improved by adjusting the feedback criteria to react to the expected state of the system after the delay time rather than the real-time state of the system. Motivated by the desire to understand bio-molecular linear stepping motors, we present a bottom-up approach of designing an artificial molecular motor. We develop a coarse-grained Molecular Dynamics model that is used to understand physical contributions to the diffusive stepping time of the motor and discover that partially reducing the diffusional space from 3D to 1D can dramatically increase motor speed. We also develop a stochastic model based on the classical Master equation for the system and explore the sensitivity of the motor to currently undetermined experimental parameters. We find that a reduced diffusional stepping time is critical to maintain motor attachment for many successive steps and explore an experimental design effect that leads to motor misstepping. / Committee in charge: Stephen Kevan, Chairperson, Physics; Heiner Linke, Member, Physics; John Toner, Member, Physics; Raghuveer Parthasarathy, Member, Physics; Marina Guenza, Outside Member, Chemistry

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / This thesis describes the procedure used for the automatic measurement of particles from hologram taken in the combustion chamber of a rocket motor while firing. It describes the investigation done on two averaging techniques used to reduce speckle noise, capturing the image focused on a spinning mylar disk and software averaging of several image frames. The spinning disk technique proved superior for this application. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov two-sample test is applied to different particle samples in order to find an estimate of the number of particles required to obtain a stable distribution function. The number of particles is calculated and given. The last part of this study shows real particle distributions in the form of frequency histograms. / http://archive.org/details/automaticmeasure00carr / Major, Canadian Armed Forces

No description available.

Cerebral ischemia leading to an ischemic stroke is a possible complication of a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedure. This is because embolic debris can become dislodged and travel through the aortic arch, where they either continue to the descending aorta and join the systemic circulation or travel into the cerebral vasculature through the three daughter vessels that branch off the top of the aortic arch. These three vessels are the brachiocephalic artery, the left subclavian artery, and the left common carotid artery. These three vessels lead either directly or indirectly to the cerebral vasculature, where the diameter of vessels become very small. If a large enough embolus travels into the cerebral vasculature, it can become stuck in the small cerebral vessels, blocking blood flow and cutting off the supply of oxygen to brain cells. The purpose of this study is to expand upon previous work in order to 1) create a more accurate physics simulation of blood and debris flow through the aortic arch 2) report on embolic debris distribution through the aortic arch and 3) analysis on which physical parameters affect embolic debris distribution. The physical parameters analyzed were particle diameter and particle density. This study was performed by creating a finite element model in COMSOL Multiphysics™ using a SolidWorks model of an aortic arch, with dimensions taken from a patient’s CT scan. Computational fluid dynamics was performed using a pulsatile pressure waveform throughout the aortic arch with a non-constant viscosity model. Once the velocity profile through the aortic arch matched with value ranges from literature, the particle tracing study was implemented. Both a pulsatile pressure waveform and a constant pressure model were analyzed, as well as a constant viscosity model and a non-constant viscosity model. The pulsatile pressure waveform influenced particle distribution and is recommended for future studies since this model leads to pulsatile flow, which is representative of flow through the aorta. It was seen that the non-constant viscosity model did not have a large effect on the velocity profile, but more than doubled the surface average value of viscosity. It also had an effect on the particle distribution through the aortic arch. Small diameter emboli were more likely to flow into the descending aorta, the brachiocephalic artery, and the left subclavian artery; larger emboli were more likely to flow into the left common carotid. Lower density emboli were more likely to flow into the descending aorta and the brachiocephalic artery. Averaging all densities and sizes, it was determined 44.8% of emboli flow into the three daughter vessels, but ultimately only 30.61% of emboli flow into the cerebral vasculature and have the potential to cause an ischemic stroke.

A new theoretical formalism is developed for the study of the mechanical behaviour of magneto-sensitive elastomers (MSEs) under a uniform external magnetic field. This formalism allows us to combine macroscopic continuum-mechanics and microscopic approaches for complex analysis of MSEs with different shapes and with different particle distributions. It is shown that starting from a model based on an explicit discrete particle distribution one can separate the magnetic field inside the MSE into two contributions: one which depends on the shape of the sample with finite size and the other, which depends on the local spatial particle distribution. The magneto-induced deformation and the change of elastic modulus are found to be either positive or negative, their dependences on the magnetic field being determined by a non-trivial interplay between these two contributions. Mechanical properties are studied for two opposite types of coupling between the particle distribution and the magneto-induced deformation: absence of elastic coupling and presence of strong affine coupling. Predictions of a new formalism are in a qualitative agreement with existing experimental data.

Le rôle des particules de poussières comporte une grande incertitude des modèles climatiques, alors qu’ils constituent une grande influence sur le bilan radiatif global et l’apport en nutriments pour divers écosystèmes. Ce projet de recherche permet d’évaluer la composition de particules de poussières en Namibie, en fonction de trois vallées constituées de rivières éphémères en région côtière. La sélection des vallées s’est basée sur leur fréquence importante d’émissivité, observée par image satellitaire. En 2017, des mesures en temps réel ont été prises ainsi que des échantillons de surface, dont l’analyse des sols et filtres s’est effectuée en laboratoire. Les propriétés des sols, c’est-à-dire la distribution de la taille, de la minéralogie et composition élémentaire, seront traitées dans ce mémoire. Le but étant d’évaluer les sources d’émission et le potentiel de transport des poussières, par une meilleure connaissance de l’interaction des sols en relation avec les particules transportées par le vent. Il a été observé que le transect de la vallée du Huab possède une taille de particule plus fine en raison de divers facteurs, dont une rivière éphémère plus active. Le transect de la vallée de Omaruru quant à lui possède une composition en minéraux plus variée, dont une petite concentration en éléments lourds. Pour le transect de la vallée du Kuiseb, en raison du site d’échantillonnage et une forte influence de la mer de sable, des particules plus près de la fraction du sable ont été identifiés en plus grande quantité par rapport aux autres sites. Il est donc suggéré que, malgré une grande concentration de particules fines pour le Huab, son processus d’émission demande une fréquence de vent et un environnement propice à l’émission des particules par suspension. Contrairement à certaines vallées telles que le Hoanib ou le Hunkab, le Kuiseb et le Omaruru semblent influencés par la désintégration des argiles lors de la saltation et le bombardement de particules plus grossières. / Dust particles are primarily known to modify radiative forcing as well as nutrient contribution of coastal regions, but account for an important part of climatic model uncertainties. This project evaluates the characteristics of dust particles in river valleys of Namibia within three valleys of the coastal region. The selection of sites was determined by their frequency of emissions observed by satellite imagery. In 2017, fieldwork measures were taken as well as surfaces samples, which were analysed for their particle size distribution, their mineralogy as well as their elemental composition. The results presented in this thesis look at potential transport emission, to better understand interactions between soil and airborne particles. It was observed that the transect of the Huab valley presents the finest distribution of particles, primarily because of its active river providing finer particles to dust sources. The transect of the Omaruru has a more varied particle size distribution relative to the Huab valley and the Kuiseb, but has some coarser particles present in small quantities. Because of its location, the transect of the Kuiseb is strongly influenced by the Namib sand sea, which is reflected in its particle size distribution. Because of existing literature about dust particles, it is possible to suggest that the Huab valley needs stronger winds to be able to be emissive as it erodes predominantly through a modified direct suspension mechanism. Saltation and bombardment seem to play a more important role in the Kuiseb valley than the other valleys along the coast, such as the Hoanib or the Hunkab, because of its important composition of sand and geomorphology proprieties.