Lattice Boltzmann method simulations of Stokes number effects on particle trajectories in a wall-bounded flow

Experimental studies of particle-laden flows in a pipe show that the spatial distribution of the particles across the radius of the pipe is dependent on the Stokes number [Timothy C. W. Lau & Graham J. Nathan, J. Fluid Mech. 2014]. It has been suggested that the Saffman lift effect [Saffman, 1965] makes a significant contribution to this spatial distribution. The Saffman lift effect has been studied in prior works by several authors and the relative contribution of the lift force has been studied within the context of various forces acting on particles in a flow. The lift force depends on the particle size and the velocity of the particle relative to the gas phase. In this study, the lattice Boltzmann method is employed to study the mechanism of particle migration of an isolated particle moving in a wall-bounded flow. The boundary condition proposed by Bouzidi et al. [2001][23], which involves the bounce-back scheme modified to account for fractional link distances between the wall and the fluid node, is used for the particles. The force acting on the particle is found by adding the momentum lost by all the fluid molecules as they bounce back from the particle surface along the link joining the particle and the fluid boundary nodes. This force is used to update the position of the particle after every streaming step. The torque acting on the particle is determined similarly and is used to update the angular velocity of the particle. It is found that at low Stokes number the particle behaves like a neutrally buoyant particle and exhibits the Segré-Silberberg effect. With increasing Stokes number, the particle exhibits an oscillatory behavior about its mean position. For large Stokes number, the particle oscillations are significant. If the ratio of channel height to particle diameter is increased, the particle moves closer to the wall and the oscillatory behavior is evident at lower Stokes number.Anand Samuel Jebakumar, Kannan N.Premnath, John Abraha

A highly virulent variant of HIV-1 circulating in the Netherlands.

We discovered a highly virulent variant of subtype-B HIV-1 in the Netherlands. One hundred nine individuals with this variant had a 0.54 to 0.74 log <sub>10</sub> increase (i.e., a ~3.5-fold to 5.5-fold increase) in viral load compared with, and exhibited CD4 cell decline twice as fast as, 6604 individuals with other subtype-B strains. Without treatment, advanced HIV-CD4 cell counts below 350 cells per cubic millimeter, with long-term clinical consequences-is expected to be reached, on average, 9 months after diagnosis for individuals in their thirties with this variant. Age, sex, suspected mode of transmission, and place of birth for the aforementioned 109 individuals were typical for HIV-positive people in the Netherlands, which suggests that the increased virulence is attributable to the viral strain. Genetic sequence analysis suggests that this variant arose in the 1990s from de novo mutation, not recombination, with increased transmissibility and an unfamiliar molecular mechanism of virulence