Experimental Investigation of Dropwise Condensation Shedding by Shearing Airflow in Microgravity Using Different Surface Coatings.

The shedding kinematics of water droplets in a condensation environment when exposed to aerodynamic forces in microgravity was studied. Understanding the shedding of droplets from a surface is a critical part of the dropwise condensation process for improving heat transfer. Because gravity as a droplet removal technique is not available in space, the use of airflow to shed droplets is considered for condensing heat exchangers in environmental control and life support systems. Surface coatings affect drop adhesion, and here, four different surfaces (PMMA, PS, PTFE, and SHS) and various droplet sizes (80, 60, and 40 µL) were used to understand the above phenomenon. It was found that the critical velocity to shed a droplet in microgravity was up to 8% lower than that in normal gravity. Also, the effect of the droplet size was investigated for both microgravity and normal gravity; the shedding velocity was lower for microgravity, and it decreased as droplet size increased. Increasing the hydrophobicity of the coating decreased the critical velocity for shedding. Finally, the droplet was found to detach from superhydrophobic surfaces in microgravity. The detachment of droplets from the substrate will hamper the condensation process that can produce a larger fresh area; also, detachment of droplets and entrainment in airflow counter the concept of removing moisture from the air in a dehumidification process.

Ethical issues in biomedical publications.

Peer-reviewed biomedical journals are expected to publish accurate and important information. In the process, numerous ethical issues may arise from within both the editorial and research communities. This paper will focus on four general ethical issues-authorship, peer review, duplicate or repetitive publication, and conflict of interest. Issues of authorship include multiple authorship, misconduct among coauthors, guest and honorary authorship, order of authorship, and credit for those not qualifying for authorship. Peer review attempts to ensure that what is published is valid. Peer review ethical issues include confidentiality of the manuscript, potential editor and reviewer bias, and conflict of interest on the part of the reviewer. Duplicate or repetitive publication, in which the same information is reported two or more times, can damage a journal's reputation for publishing new and important information and can waste its resources. Conflicts of interest, in which financial and personal considerations may affect the investigator's personal judgment, can seriously damage the integrity of the author and of the journal. Increased awareness of these ethical issues should stimulate everyone to take an active role in promulgating and enforcing the highest ethical standards in biomedical publications.

International Federation of Fertility Societies Surveillance 2010: preface.

Surveillance is a triennial worldwide compendium of national rules and regulations for assisted reproductive technology. It was last published in 2007.