Successively accelerated ionic wind with integrated dielectric-barrier-discharge plasma actuator for low-voltage operation.

Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) force is used for active control of fluid motion and for the generation of propulsive thrust by inducing ionic wind with no moving parts. We propose a method of successively generating and accelerating ionic wind induced by surface dielectric-barrier-discharge (DBD), referred to as a DBD plasma actuator with multiple electrodes. A conventional method fails to generate unidirectional ionic wind, due to the generation of a counter ionic-wind with the multiple electrodes DBD plasma actuator. However, unidirectional ionic wind can be obtained by designing an applied voltage waveform and electrode arrangement suitable for the unidirectional EHD force generation. Our results demonstrate that mutually enhanced EHD force is generated by using the multiple electrodes without generating counter ionic-wind and highlights the importance of controlling the dielectric surface charge to generate the strong ionic wind. The proposed method can induce strong ionic wind without a high-voltage power supply, which is typically expensive and heavy, and is suitable for equipping small unmanned aerial vehicles with a DBD plasma actuator for a drastic improvement in the aerodynamic performance.

Flow Mediated Dilatation Is Reduced with the Progressive Stages of Glomerular Filtration Rate and Albuminuria in Type 2 Diabetic Patients without Coronary Heart Disease.

We aimed to clarify the usefulness of measuring the flow mediated dilatation (FMD) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus without and with coronary heart disease (CHD). The FMD was measured in 480 patients with type 2 diabetes and in 240 nondiabetic subjects. The FMD was significantly lower in the subjects with CHD (n = 145, 5.4 ± 3.2%) than in those without CHD (n = 95, 6.9 ± 3.5%) among the nondiabetic subjects. The FMD was also lower in the subjects both with CHD (n = 161, 5.6 ± 2.8%) and without CHD (n = 319, 6.1 ± 3.3%) among the patients with diabetes compared to those without both diabetes and CHD. The FMD showed a significant positive correlation with the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in the diabetic patients without CHD, while there was no significant association in those with CHD. The FMD was significantly lower with the progressive stages of the GFR or albuminuria in the patients without CHD among those with diabetes, although the FMD was not different in those with CHD. In conclusion, the FMD is considered to be useful for the detection of atherosclerosis in patients with type 2 diabetes, even if overt macroangiopathy is not diagnosed.