OBJECTIVE Over-the-counter vaginal lubricants have been shown to negatively affect in vitro sperm motility. The objective of this study was to estimate the effect of vaginal lubricant use during procreative intercourse on natural fertility. METHODS Women aged 30-44 years with no history of infertility who had been trying to conceive for less than 3 months completed a baseline questionnaire on...

Ultra-thin lubricant films are essential in the design of nanoscale systems and devices as surface effects become increasingly important on the nanoscale. We have used molecular dynamics simulations to quantify terraced spreading of perfluoropolyether lubricant on a flat substrate as a function of polymer chain length, lubricant thickness, and functional end groups of the lubricant and the subs...

The tribology program at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, is investigating carbon based nano-particles for their potential in advanced concept lubrication products. Service conditions range from high temperature atmospheric to low temperature vacuum. Some of the lubricants and surface coatings of tribological significance that we have evaluated include neat nano-particles, both gr...

FMLs are considered by many industries, including the aerospace industry, due to their important advantages such as high strength, low weight, corrosion and moisture resistance, good fatigue properties, and so on. The purpose of the present study is to improve the mechanical properties of the panel through the addition of nanoscale by improving the structure of the FML. For this purpose, the pe...

We succeeded in fabrication of a free accessible microchannel using an air-liquid interface. To pattern the air-liquid interface in the microfluidic chip, we utilized nano-geometric surface which encloses micropatterned massive nanopillars to enhance the wettability of the surface, which was fabricated by using the hybrid mask lithography technique. Novelties of this paper are shown as follows....

Boat lubricants are continuously released into the marine environment and thereby cause chronic oil pollution. This study aims to isolate lubricant-degrading microorganisms from Thai coastal areas as well as to apply a selected strain for removal of boat lubricants. Ten microorganisms in the genera of Gordonia, Microbacterium, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, Brucella, Enterococcus and Candida were ...

Microscale roughness on an otherwise smooth hydrophobic surface can significantly reduce the resistance to an external liquid flow. We study static drag reduction over a lubricantinfused surface by looking at an array of two-dimensional transverse grooves partially filled with a second immiscible fluid. Numerical simulations at separate length scales are used to probe the static drag reduction ...

A deterministic theory describing the behavior of an ultrathin lubricant film between two atomically-smooth solid surfaces is proposed. For the description of lubricant state the parameter of excess volume arising due to chaotization of solid medium structure in the course of melting is introduced. Thermodynamic and shear melting is described consistently. Dependences of friction force on tempe...