A cross-sectional study of Bordetella pertussis seroprevalence and estimated duration of vaccine protection against pertussis in St. Petersburg, Russia.

BACKGROUND: In Russia as in other countries introduction of infant vaccination against pertussis in 1950s led to dramatic decrease of whooping cough. The current vaccination schedule includes a 3-dose infant series and toddler booster; the pre-school booster was cancelled in 1980s and never reintroduced. Whole-cell vaccines, and in a smaller proportion acellular vaccines are used for all doses. However, pertussis incidence in urban settings is high with highest burden in school children. We conducted a study of seroprevalence of recent pertussis infection to estimate the duration of protection from the 4-dose series. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sera sample from 395 St Petersburg children aged ≥3 years and <14 years were tested for pertussis toxin antibodies using a commercial PT ELISA test. Only children with completed 4-dose vaccination course were included in the study. Age-specific seroprevalence of recent pertussis infection was analyzed for trends. RESULTS: Children fully vaccinated against pertussis at 3 years old had significant delays in infant vaccination schedule: only 83.5% received at least one dose of pertussis vaccine at 6 months of age and 25.6% received their toddler booster before 24 months-old. Overall, 10.6% of children demonstrated the serological signs of the infection in the last 12 months. A clear trend (r2 = 0.692) of increasing proportion of infection in the last 12 months was observed in children who had received their last dose of vaccine 6 years and more prior to the study. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that Russian children become susceptible to infection at or soon after entering school. The results confirm the waning of vaccine-elicited immunity around school-age and support the need for a booster dose at that age.

Surface Modification Approach to TiO2 Nanofluids with High Particle Concentration, Low Viscosity, and Electrochemical Activity.

This study presents a new approach to the formulation of functional nanofluids with high solid loading and low viscosity while retaining the surface activity of nanoparticles, in particular, their electrochemical response. The proposed methodology can be applied to a variety of functional nanomaterials and enables exploration of nanofluids as a medium for industrial applications beyond heat transfer fluids, taking advantage of both liquid behavior and functionality of dispersed nanoparticles. The highest particle concentration achievable with pristine 25 nm titania (TiO2) nanoparticles in aqueous electrolytes (pH 11) is 20 wt %, which is limited by particle aggregation and high viscosity. We have developed a scalable one-step surface modification procedure for functionalizing those TiO2 nanoparticles with a monolayer coverage of propyl sulfonate groups, which provides steric and charge-based separation of particles in suspension. Stable nanofluids with TiO2 loadings up to 50 wt % and low viscosity are successfully prepared from surface-modified TiO2 nanoparticles in the same electrolytes. Viscosity and thermal conductivity of the resulting nanofluids are evaluated and compared to nanofluids prepared from pristine nanoparticles. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the surface-modified titania nanoparticles retain more than 78% of their electrochemical response as compared to that of the pristine material. Potential applications of the proposed nanofluids include, but are not limited to, electrochemical energy storage and catalysis, including photo- and electrocatalysis.

Improving the heat transfer efficiency of synthetic oil with silica nanoparticles.

The heat transfer properties of synthetic oil (Therminol 66) used for high temperature applications was improved by introducing 15 nm silicon dioxide nanoparticles. Stable suspensions of inorganic nanoparticles in the non-polar fluid were prepared using a cationic surfactant (benzalkonium chloride). The effects of nanoparticle and surfactant concentrations on thermo-physical properties (viscosity, thermal conductivity and total heat absorption) of these nanofluids were investigated in a wide temperature range. The surfactant-to-nanoparticle (SN) ratio was optimized for higher thermal conductivity and lower viscosity, which are both critical for the efficiency of heat transfer. The rheological behavior of SiO(2)/TH66 nanofluids was correlated to average agglomerate sizes, which were shown to vary with SN ratio and temperature. The conditions of ultrasonic treatment were studied and the temporary decrease of agglomerate size from an equilibrium size (characteristic to SN ratio) was demonstrated. The heat transfer efficiencies were estimated for the formulated nanofluids for both turbulent and laminar flow regimes and were compared to the performance of the base fluid.

Nanofluids for heat transfer: an engineering approach.

An overview of systematic studies that address the complexity of nanofluid systems and advance the understanding of nanoscale contributions to viscosity, thermal conductivity, and cooling efficiency of nanofluids is presented. A nanoparticle suspension is considered as a three-phase system including the solid phase (nanoparticles), the liquid phase (fluid media), and the interfacial phase, which contributes significantly to the system properties because of its extremely high surface-to-volume ratio in nanofluids. The systems engineering approach was applied to nanofluid design resulting in a detailed assessment of various parameters in the multivariable nanofluid systems. The relative importance of nanofluid parameters for heat transfer evaluated in this article allows engineering nanofluids with desired set of properties.

Mechanisms and models of effective thermal conductivities of nanofluids.

The physical mechanisms and mathematical models of the effective thermal conductivities of nanofluids have long been of interest to the nanofluid research community because the effective thermal conductivities of nanofluids cannot generally be fully explained and predicted by classical effective medium theories. This review article summarizes considerable progress made on this topic. Specifically, the physical mechanisms and mathematical models of the effective thermal conductivities of nanofluids are reviewed, the potential contributions of those physical mechanisms are evaluated, and the comparisons of the theoretical predictions and experimental data are presented along with opportunities for future research.

Particle size and interfacial effects on thermo-physical and heat transfer characteristics of water-based alpha-SiC nanofluids.

The effect of average particle sizes on basic macroscopic properties and heat transfer performance of alpha-SiC/water nanofluids was investigated. The average particle sizes, calculated from the specific surface area of nanoparticles, were varied from 16 to 90 nm. Nanofluids with larger particles of the same material and volume concentration provide higher thermal conductivity and lower viscosity increases than those with smaller particles because of the smaller solid/liquid interfacial area of larger particles. It was also demonstrated that the viscosity of water-based nanofluids can be significantly decreased by pH of the suspension independently from the thermal conductivity. Heat transfer coefficients were measured and compared to the performance of base fluids as well as to nanofluids reported in the literature. Criteria for evaluation of the heat transfer performance of nanofluids are discussed and optimum directions in nanofluid development are suggested.

Thermal conductivity and particle agglomeration in alumina nanofluids: experiment and theory.

In recent years many experimentalists have reported an anomalously enhanced thermal conductivity in liquid suspensions of nanoparticles. Despite the importance of this effect for heat transfer applications, no agreement has emerged about the mechanism of this phenomenon, or even about the experimentally observed magnitude of the enhancement. To address these issues, this paper presents a combined experimental and theoretical study of heat conduction and particle agglomeration in nanofluids. On the experimental side, nanofluids of alumina particles in water and ethylene glycol are characterized using thermal conductivity measurements, viscosity measurements, dynamic light scattering, and other techniques. The results show that the particles are agglomerated, with an agglomeration state that evolves in time. The data also show that the thermal conductivity enhancement is within the range predicted by effective medium theory. On the theoretical side, a model is developed for heat conduction through a fluid containing nanoparticles and agglomerates of various geometries. The calculations show that elongated and dendritic structures are more efficient in enhancing the thermal conductivity than compact spherical structures of the same volume fraction, and that surface (Kapitza) resistance is the major factor resulting in the lower than effective medium conductivities measured in our experiments. Together, these results imply that the geometry, agglomeration state, and surface resistance of nanoparticles are the main variables controlling thermal conductivity enhancement in nanofluids.