Hydrodynamic dispersion in shallow microchannels with almost parabolic cross-sectional shapes and with heights much less than their widths is studied experimentally. Both long serpentine channels and rotary mixers are used. The experimental results demonstrate that the dispersion depends on the width rather than the height of the channel. The results are in quantitative agreement with a recentl...

We study the transport properties of disordered electron systems that contain perfectly conducting channels. Two quantum network models that belong to different universality classes, unitary and symplectic, are simulated numerically. The perfectly conducting channel in the unitary class can be realized in zigzag graphene nano-ribbons and that in the symplectic class is known to appear in metall...

To achieve high mixing efficiency in microfluidic devices, complex designs are often required. Microfluidic devices have been evaluated with light and confocal microscopy, but fluid-flow characteristics at different depths are difficult to separate from the en face images produced. By using optical coherence tomography (OCT), an imaging modality capable of imaging 3D microstructures at micromet...

• Heat exchanger reactor prototypes are designed to study heat transfer in millimetric channels. coefficients zigzag channels 2 5 times higher than straight decreases when the channel cross section increases. A correlation is proposed for coefficient estimation performances of compact reactors were experimentally characterized and measurement uncertainties evaluated using derivation method. Pro...

Polyploidization is one of the leading forces in the evolution of land plants, providing opportunities for instant speciation and rapid gain of evolutionary novelties. Highly selective conditions of serpentine environments act as an important evolutionary trigger that can be involved in various speciation processes. Whereas the significance of both edaphic speciation on serpentine and polyploid...

Self-Switching Diodes (SSD) are two terminal Nano-devices that rectify current based purely on a field effect, without the need for a third gate terminal to apply this field. They can be fabricated simply by etching two L-shaped trenches back-to-back giving rise to asymmetrical nanowires that have rectifying characteristics similar to those of conventional diodes [1]. SSDs can operate at high f...

This paper presents analytical and experimental results of an investigation of joint actuators and their suitability for a particular class of complex mechanisms: serpentine robots. In practice, serpentine robots usually comprise of multiple segments connected by joints. Some serpentine robots provide legged, wheeled, or tracked propulsion, and, in addition, actuation for the joints. We compare...

Habitat specialization plays an important role in the creation and loss of biodiversity over ecological and evolutionary time scales. In California, serpentine soils have a distinctive flora, with 246 serpentine habitat specialists (i.e., endemics). Using molecular phylogenies for 23 genera containing 784 taxa and 51 endemics, we infer few transitions out of the endemic state, which is shown by...