Three-layered Couette flow of polar fluid with non-zero particle spin boundary condition at the interfaces with applications to blood flow

In this paper, Couette flow of blood is modelled as a three-layered flow. The model basically consists of a core (red-cell suspension) and plasma (a Newtonian fluid) in the top (near the moving plate) and bottom (near the stationary plate) layers. Flow is assumed to be steady and laminar and fluids are incompressible. A spin boundary condition at the interfaces is used by introducing two parameters. Analytic expressions for velocity, total angular velocity and effective viscosity have been obtained and their variations with spin parameters S and s, layer thickness, coupling number N and characteristic length ratio L are computed and shown graphically. One of the important observations of the analysis is the permissible values of the coupling number N is between 0 and 1/square root2 (in the existing literature, the range of N is 0 to 1). The present model includes Couette flow of one and three-layered Newtonian fluids and one-layered polar fluid models as its special cases. Applications of the proposed model to blood flow have been briefly discussed.     

Simulation of ethylene conversion initiated by a streamer corona in an air flow

The conversion of ethylene (C₂H₄) at concentrations of 400 and 930 ppm in an air flow at a temperature of 295 K is simulated. Ethylene is added to air either upstream of the discharge chamber or in the reaction tube, downstream of a pulsed corona discharge. It is taken into account that the distribution of the gas components in the discharge zone is nonuniform due to the streamer nature of the discharge. In the reaction tube, all of the components are assumed to be uniform. Simulation results agree with the experiments carried out at voltage pulse amplitudes of 30 and 40 kV, a gas flow rate of 2–10 l/min, and a specific energy deposition of up to 0.15 J/cm³. It is shown that the ozone produced plays a governing role in the C₂H₄ conversion. It is found that it is possible to minimize the energy spent on conversion by choosing the optimum pulse repetition rate and the specific energy deposited per pulse. The presence of water vapor impedes the ethylene conversion and increases the concentration of formaldehyde and methane.     

CT image segmentation using FEM with optimized boundary condition

The authors propose a CT image segmentation method using structural analysis that is useful for objects with structural dynamic characteristics. Motivation of our research is from the area of genetic activity. In order to reveal the roles of genes, it is necessary to create mutant mice and measure differences among them by scanning their skeletons with an X-ray CT scanner. The CT image needs to be manually segmented into pieces of the bones. It is a very time consuming to manually segment many mutant mouse models in order to reveal the roles of genes. It is desirable to make this segmentation procedure automatic. Although numerous papers in the past have proposed segmentation techniques, no general segmentation method for skeletons of living creatures has been established. Against this background, the authors propose a segmentation method based on the concept of destruction analogy. To realize this concept, structural analysis is performed using the finite element method (FEM), as structurally weak areas can be expected to break under conditions of stress. The contribution of the method is its novelty, as no studies have so far used structural analysis for image segmentation. The method's implementation involves three steps. First, finite elements are created directly from the pixels of a CT image, and then candidates are also selected in areas where segmentation is thought to be appropriate. The second step involves destruction analogy to find a single candidate with high strain chosen as the segmentation target. The boundary conditions for FEM are also set automatically. Then, destruction analogy is implemented by replacing pixels with high strain as background ones, and this process is iterated until object is decomposed into two parts. Here, CT image segmentation is demonstrated using various types of CT imagery.     

Numerical simulation of air flow through a biofilter with heterogeneous porous media

Based on the ideal biofilter model, numerical simulation using lattice Boltzmann method is carried out to investigate the effect of Darcy number and porosity on removal efficiency of low headloss biofilter. The generalized Navier-Stokes model (Brinkman-Forchheimer-extended Darcy model) is applied making several assumptions. It is found that the Darcy number has determinant influence on the removal efficiency, and the effect of porosity on removal efficiency is very weak at lower Darcy numbers but very strong at higher Darcy numbers. It was found there was strong evidence of flow heterogeneity in the biofilter (Chitwood, D.E., Devinny, J.S., Reynolds Jr., F.E., 1999. Evaluation of a two-stage biofilter for treatment of POTW waste air. Environ. Prog. 18, 212-221). In this study we have found the biofilter performance can be improved by adjusting local Darcy number of the porous media in the biofilter.     

Use of rooms with laminar air flow]

The paper deals with the problem of dependency of the reduction of microbial contamination and of dust pollution of the air mediu min the CAMERA-BOXES with a liminary flux on the aeration degree. It was shown that the degree of aeration in the camera-box constituted from 330 to 1060, with the rate of the air flux at the filter exit of from 0.2 to 0.6 m/sec. Vertical laminar flux provided release of the air from the microbes and dust. The use of the camera-box with a laminar flux for work requiring sterile conditions is recommended.     

Toward a noninvasive subject-specific estimation of abdominal aortic pressure

A method for estimation of central arterial pressure based on linear one-dimensional wave propagation theory is presented in this paper. The equations are applied to a distributed model of the arterial tree, truncated by three-element windkessels. To reflect individual differences in the properties of the arterial trees, we pose a minimization problem from which individual parameters are identified. The idea is to take a measured waveform in a peripheral artery and use it as input to the model. The model subsequently predicts the corresponding waveform in another peripheral artery in which a measurement has also been made, and the arterial tree model is then calibrated in such a way that the computed waveform matches its measured counterpart. For the purpose of validation, invasively recorded abdominal aortic, brachial, and femoral pressures in nine healthy subjects are used. The results show that the proposed method estimates the abdominal aortic pressure wave with good accuracy. The root mean square error (RMSE) of the estimated waveforms was 1.61 +/- 0.73 mmHg, whereas the errors in systolic and pulse pressure were 2.32 +/- 1.74 and 3.73 +/- 2.04 mmHg, respectively. These results are compared with another recently proposed method based on a signal processing technique, and it is shown that our method yields a significantly (P < 0.01) lower RMSE. With more extensive validation, the method may eventually be used in clinical practice to provide detailed, almost individual, specific information as a valuable basis for decision making.     

A lubricant boundary condition for a biological body lined by a thin heterogeneous biofilm

We study the asymptotic behavior of an incompressible viscous fluid flow in a biological body lined by a thin biological film with a cellular microstructure,varying thickness,and a heterogeneous viscosity regulated by a time random process.Let ting the thickness of the film tend to zero,we derive an effective biological slip boundary condition on the boundary of the body.This law relates the tangential fluxes to the tangential velocities via a proportional coefficient corresponding to the energy of some local problem.This law describes the ability of the biological film to function as a lubricant reducing friction at the wall of the body.The tangential velocities are functions of the random trajectories of a finely concentrated biological particle.     

Egomotion estimation with optic flow and air velocity sensors

We develop a method that allows a flyer to estimate its own motion (egomotion), the wind velocity, ground slope, and flight height using only inputs from onboard optic flow and air velocity sensors. Our artificial algorithm demonstrates how it could be possible for flying insects to determine their absolute egomotion using their available sensors, namely their eyes and wind sensitive hairs and antennae. Although many behaviors can be performed by only knowing the direction of travel, behavioral experiments indicate that odor tracking insects are able to estimate the wind direction and control their absolute egomotion (i.e., groundspeed). The egomotion estimation method that we have developed, which we call the opto-aeronautic algorithm, is tested in a variety of wind and ground slope conditions using a video recorded flight of a moth tracking a pheromone plume. Over all test cases that we examined, the algorithm achieved a mean absolute error in height of 7% or less. Furthermore, our algorithm is suitable for the navigation of aerial vehicles in environments where signals from the Global Positioning System are unavailable.     

Pulsatile blood flow in a rigid pulmonary alveolar sheet with porous walls

This paper deals with the pulsatile blood flow in the lung alveolar sheets by idealizing each of them as a channel covered by porous media. As the blood flow in the lung is of low Reynolds number, a creeping flow is assumed in the channel. The analytical and numerical results for the velocity and pressure distribution in the porous medium are presented. The effect of an imposed slip condition is also studied. Comparisons with the corresponding results for the steady-state case are made at the end.     

Modeling boundary vector cell firing given optic flow as a cue

Boundary vector cells in entorhinal cortex fire when a rat is in locations at a specific distance from walls of an environment. This firing may originate from memory of the barrier location combined with path integration, or the firing may depend upon the apparent visual input image stream. The modeling work presented here investigates the role of optic flow, the apparent change of patterns of light on the retina, as input for boundary vector cell firing. Analytical spherical flow is used by a template model to segment walls from the ground, to estimate self-motion and the distance and allocentric direction of walls, and to detect drop-offs. Distance estimates of walls in an empty circular or rectangular box have a mean error of less than or equal to two centimeters. Integrating these estimates into a visually driven boundary vector cell model leads to the firing patterns characteristic for boundary vector cells. This suggests that optic flow can influence the firing of boundary vector cells.     

Simulation of flow through a Miller cuff bypass graft

Unnatural temporal and spatial distributions of wall shear stress in the anastomosis of distal bypass grafts have been identified as possible factors in the development of anastomotic intimal hyperplasia in these grafts. Distal bypass graft anastomoses with an autologus vein cuff (a Miller cuff) interposed between the graft and artery have been shown to alleviate the effects of intimal hyperplasia. In this study, pulsatile flow through models of a standard end-to-side anastomosis and a Miller cuff anastomosis are computed and the resulting wall shear stress and pressure distributions analysed. The results are inconclusive, and could be taken to suggest that the unnatural distributions of shear stress that do occur along the anastomosis floor may not be particularly important in the development of intimal hyperplasia. However, it seems more likely that the positive effects of the biological and material properties of the vein cuff, which are not considered in this study, somehow outweigh the negative effects of the shear stress distributions predicted to occur on the floor of the Miller-cuff graft.     

Altered endothelium-dependent relaxations in lambs with high pulmonary blood flow and pulmonary hypertension

Congenital heart disease associated with increased pulmonary blood flow produces pulmonary hypertension. To characterize vascular alterations in the nitric oxide (NO)-cGMP cascade induced by increased pulmonary blood flow and pulmonary hypertension, 10 fetal lambs underwent in utero placement of an aortopulmonary vascular graft (shunt). When the lambs were 4-6 wk of age, we assessed responses of pulmonary arteries (PAs) and pulmonary veins (PVs) isolated from lungs of control and shunted lambs. PVs from control and shunted lambs relaxed similarly to exogenous NO (S-nitrosyl-acetyl-penicillamine), to NO produced endogenously (zaprinast and A-23187), and to cGMP (atrial natriuretic peptide). In contrast, relaxations to A-23187 and zaprinast were blunted in PAs isolated from shunted lambs relative to controls. Inhibitors of NO synthase (NOS) and soluble guanylate cyclase constricted control but not shunt PAs, indicating reduced basal NOS activity in shunt PAs. Pretreatment of shunt PAs with the substrates L-arginine and sepiapterin, a precursor for tetrahydrobiopterin synthesis, did not augment A-23187 relaxations. However, pretreatment with superoxide dismutase and catalase significantly enhanced A-23187 relaxations in shunt PAs. We conclude that increased pulmonary blood flow induces an impairment of endothelium-dependent relaxation that is selective to PAs. The impaired relaxation may be mediated in part by excess superoxide production.     

Relation of pressure and flow of pulmonary circulation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

A series of 31 patients with various degrees of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease underwent right heart catheterization using flow-directed thermodilution catheters. Both rest and supine exercise values were obtained. The patients were divided into two groups on the basis of their reduction in forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1). In patients with FEV1 values of greater than or equal to 1,300 ml (group 1), the arterial oxygen partial pressure (PaO2) did not significantly change with exercise, while in patients with FEV1 of less than or equal to 1,200 ml (group 2) PaO2 significantly (p less than 0.05) fell in response to exercise. In group 2, a significant increase of total pulmonary resistance (TPR) with exercise was found (p less than 0.01). Pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) remained unchanged in both subgroups. It is suggested that the value of PVR for subgroup 2 is artificially low because an important variable, namely pulmonary artery wedge pressure, is influenced by alveolar pressure in patients with an uneven distribution of perfusion and ventilation at pulmonary venous pressures lower than alveolar pressure. The steeper slope of the pressure-flow relationship in these patients is probably due to an increased vascular tone caused by chronic hypoxia at rest and further fall of PaO2 and rise of arterial CO2 partial pressure in response to exercise.     

Effects of air flow on rat electroolfactogram

The electroolfactogram (EOG) previously has been used to demonstrate the regional distribution of rat olfactory epithelial odorant responses. Here, we evaluated the effects of airflow parameters on EOGs in two preparations: one where odorants were directly applied to the epithelium (opened preparation) and one where odorants were drawn through the nasal passages by an artificial sniff (closed preparation). EOG rise times served as one measure of odorant access. For isoamyl acetate (but not for limonene), rise times were slower in the lateral recesses of the closed (but not the opened) preparation. Polar odorants (amyl acetate, carvone and benzaldehyde) evoked smaller responses in the closed preparation than in the opened preparation, and these responses were particularly depressed in the lateral regions of the closed preparation. Responses to nonpolar hydrocarbon odorants (limonene and benzene) were equal in the lateral regions of both preparations, but were somewhat depressed in the medial region of the closed preparation. The responses to some polar odorants in the closed preparation were sensitive to changes in airflow parameters. These data suggest that the sorptive properties of the nose contribute substantially to determining the response of the epithelium and act to increase differences produced by inherent receptor mechanisms.     

Parameters of the plasma of a dc pulsating discharge in a supersonic air flow

A dc discharge in a cold (T = 200 K) supersonic air flow at a static pressure of 200–400 Torr was studied experimentally. The excited unsteady pulsating discharge has the form of a thin plasma channel with a diameter of ≤1 mm, stretched downstream the flow. Depending on the discharge current, the pulsation frequency varies from 800 to 1600 Hz and the electron temperature varies from 8000 to 15000 K.     

A dual-pressure boundary condition for use in simulations of bifurcating conduits

A dual-pressure boundary condition has been developed for computational modelling of bifurcating conduits. The condition involves the imposition of a constant pressure on one branch while adjusting iteratively the pressure on the other branch until the desired flow division is obtained. The dual-pressure condition eliminates the need for specifying fully-developed flow conditions, which thereby enables significant reduction of the outlet branch lengths. The dual-pressure condition is suitable for both steady and time-periodic simulations of laminar or turbulent flows.     

Steady flow velocity measurements in a pulmonary artery model with varying degrees of pulmonic stenosis

Velocity and flow visualization studies were conducted in an adult size pulmonary artery model with varying degrees of valvular stenosis, using a two dimensional laser Doppler anemometer system. Velocity measurements in the main, left and right branches of the pulmonary artery revealed that as the degree of pulmonic stenosis increased, the jet type flow created by the valve hit the distal wall of the LPA farther downstream from the junction of the bifurcation. This in turn led to higher levels of turbulent and disturbed flow, and larger secondary flow motion in the LPA compared to the RPA. The high levels of turbulence measured in the main and left pulmonary arteries with the stenotic valves, could lead to the clinically observed phenomenon of post stenotic dilatation in the MPA extending into the LPA.     

Simulations of a longitudinal glow discharge in a hot air flow at atmospheric pressure

A one-dimensional axisymmetric time-dependent model of a discharge in a gas flow is developed. The model includes a fairly complete set of plasmochemical reactions and describes the heating and gasdynamic expansion of a plasma channel in air. The processes governing the distribution of nitrogen molecules in the N₂(C ³Π_u, v) state over vibrational levels are considered. The parameters of a longitudinal glow discharge in a hot (T ₀ = 1500?3000 K) air flow at atmospheric pressure are calculated. It is found that gas preheating considerably influences the parameters of the discharge channel. The results of calculations are compared with the experimental data.