The lattice Boltzmann advection-diffusion model revisited

Advection-diffusion processes can be simulated by the Lattice Boltzmann method. Two formulations have been proposed in the literature. We show that they are not fully correct (only first order accurate). A new formulation is proposed, which is shown to produce better results, both from the point of view of the Chapman-Enskog expansion or when comparing simulations with an exact time-dependent solution of the advection-diffusion equatio

Towards a hybrid parallelization of lattice Boltzmann methods

AbstractOngoing research towards the development of a hybrid parallelization concept for lattice Boltzmann methods is presented. It allows coping with platforms sharing both the properties of shared and distributed architectures. The proposed approach relies on spatial domain decomposition where each domain represents a basic block entity which is solved on a symmetric multi-processing (SMP) system. Emphasis is placed on the software design and the reworking needed to achieve good performance using OpenMP in that context. Those ideas are implemented in the C++ project OpenLB, which is also sketched in this article. The efficiency of the proposed approaches is tested on a 3D benchmark problem and compared with a purely MPI based approach

Automatic grid refinement criterion for lattice Boltzmann method

In all kinds of engineering problems, and in particular in methods for computational fluid dynamics based on regular grids, local grid refinement is of crucial importance. To save on computational expense, many applications require to resolve a wide range of scales present in a numerical simulation by locally adding more mesh points. In general, the need for a higher (or a lower) resolution is not known a priori, and it is therefore difficult to locate areas for which local grid refinement is required. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm for the lattice Boltzmann method, based on physical concepts, to automatically construct a pattern of local refinement. We apply the idea to the two-dimensional lid-driven cavity and show that the automatically refined grid can lead to results of equal quality with less grid points, thus sparing computational resources and time. The proposed automatic grid refinement strategy has been implemented in the parallel open-source library Palabos

Application of the multi distribution function lattice Boltzmann approach to thermal flows

Numerical methods able to model high Rayleigh (Ra) and high Prandtl (Pr) number thermal convection are important to study large-scale geophysical phenomena occuring in very viscous fluids such as magma chamber dynamics (104 < Pr < 107 and 107 < Ra < 1011). The important variable to quantify the thermal state of a convective fluid is a generalized dimensionless heat transfer coefficient (the Nusselt number) whose measure indicates the relative efficiency of the thermal convection. In this paper we test the ability of Multi-distribution Function approach (MDF) Thermal Lattice Boltzmann method to study the well-established scaling result for the Nusselt number (Nu ∝ Ra 1/3) in Rayleigh Bénard convection for 104 ≤ Ra ≤ 109 and 101 ≤ Pr ≤ 104. We explore its main drawbacks in the range of Pr and Ra number under investigation: (1) high computational time N c required for the algorithm to converge and (2) high spatial accuracy needed to resolve the thickness of thermal plumes and both thermal and velocity boundary layer. We try to decrease the computational demands of the method using a multiscale approach based on the implicit dependence of the Pr number on the relaxation time, the spatial and temporal resolution characteristic of the MDF thermal mode

Two-dimensional model studies of the effect of supersonic aircraft operations on the stratospheric ozone content

For a fleet of 250 aircraft, the change in the ozone column is predicted to be very close to zero; in fact, the ozone overburden may actually increase as a result of show that above 25 to 30 km the ozone abundance decreases via catalytic destruction, but at lower heights it increases, mainly as a result of coupling with odd hydrogen species. Water vapor released in the engine exhaust is predicted to cause ozone decreases; for the hypothetical engines used in the study, the total column ozone changes due to water vapor emission largely offset the predicted ozone increases due to NOx emission. The actual effect of water vapor may be less than calculated because present models do not include thermal feedback. Feedback refers to the cooling effect of additional water vapor that would tend to slow the NOx reactions which destroy ozone

Caregiver experience and perceived acceptability of a novel near point-of-care early infant HIV diagnostic test among caregivers enrolled in the PMTCT program, Myanmar : a qualitative study

Background The majority of HIV infection among children occurs through mother-to-child transmission. HIV exposed infants are recommended to have virological testing at birth or 4–6 weeks of age but challenges with centralized laboratory-based testing in Myanmar result in low testing rates and delays in result communication and treatment initiation. Decentralized point-of-care (POC) testing when integrated in prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services, can be an alternative to increase coverage of early infant diagnosis (EID) and timely engagement in HIV treatment and care. Aim This paper aims to explore experiences of caregivers of HIV-exposed infants enrolled in the PMTCT program in Myanmar and the perceived acceptability of point-of-care EID testing compared to conventional centralised laboratory-based testing. Methods This is a sub-study of the cluster randomised controlled stepped-wedge trial (Trial registration number: ACTRN12616000734460) that assessed the impact of near POC EID testing using Xpert HIV-1 Qual assay in four public hospitals in Myanmar. Caregivers of infants who were enrolled in the intervention phase of the main study, had been tested with both Xpert and standard of care tests and had received the results were eligible for this qualitative study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 caregivers. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and translated into English. Thematic data analysis was undertaken using NVivo 12 Software (QSR International). Results The majority of caregivers were satisfied with the quality of care provided by PMTCT services. However, they encountered social and financial access barriers to attend the PMTCT clinic regularly. Mothers had concerns about community stigma from the disclosure of their HIV status and the potential consequences for their infants. While medical care at the PMTCT clinics was free, caregivers sometimes experienced financial difficulties associated with out-of-pocket expenses for childbirth and transportation. Some caregivers had to choose not to attend work (impacting their income) or the adult antiretroviral clinic in order to attend the paediatric PMTCT clinic appointment. The acceptability of the Xpert testing process was high among the caregiver participants and more than half received the Xpert result on the same day as testing. Short turnaround time of the near POC EID testing enabled the caregivers to find out their infants’ HIV status quicker, thereby shortening the stressful waiting time for results. Conclusion Our study identified important access challenges facing caregivers of HIV exposed infants and high acceptability of near POC EID testing. Improving the retention rate in the PMTCT and EID programs necessitates careful attention of program managers and policy makers to these challenges, and POC EID represents a potential solution

High-accuracy curved lattice Boltzmann boundary conditions for efficient GPU simulations

With the lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM), a straightforward extension of the bounce-back no-slip rule leads to a vast group of directional (aka link-wise) Dirichlet boundary conditions. These methods can accurately describe the interaction of a fluid flow with a complex solid surface in a uniform Cartesian grid. The link-wise family includes an infinite number of schemes that can be tuned to optimize their five fundamental features: (i) exactness of channel flows velocity and pressure profiles, (ii) accuracy order, (iii) linear stability, (iv) parametrization, and (v) locality. We identify, respectively, two main groups of directional schemes. The first comprises compact schemes with linear exactness (LI) (Ginzburg et al., 2008) and its extended local (ELI) family (Ginzburg et al., 2022; Marson, 2022; Marson et al., 2021), which combines the local single-node implementation with the second-order accuracy, linear exactness, and physical consistency. The second is the Multi-reflection (MR) family, which gains parabolic exactness in the Stokes and Navier-Stokes flows but loses locality. This presentation focuses on the new developments of ELI, which provide ELI (and LI) with parabolic exactness in Stokes flows. Additionally, it shows how these schemes allow for simple and uniform implementations, even in the coarsest simulations characterized by many narrow gaps. One can implement ELI simply by modifying the collision model in the boundary node where the half-way bounce-back (HW) applies. Therefore, the implementation in a high-performance code is straightforward. We implement ELI in GPU-accelerated Palabos (Latt et al., 2021a, 2021b), which allows for multi-GPU simulations, showing that one can obtain outstanding numerical performances which are close to the ones of the HW for steady boundaries

Malaria epidemiology in central Myanmar: identification of a multi-species asymptomatic reservoir of infection.

BACKGROUND: The spread of artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum is a global health concern. Myanmar stands at the frontier of artemisinin-resistant P. falciparum. Myanmar also has the highest reported malaria burden in Southeast Asia; it is integral in the World Health Organization's plan to eliminate malaria in Southeast Asia, yet few epidemiological data exist for the general population in Myanmar. METHODS: This cross-sectional, probability household survey was conducted in Phyu township, Bago Region (central Myanmar), during the wet season of 2013. Interviewers collected clinical and behavioural data, recorded tympanic temperature and obtained dried blood spots for malaria PCR and serology. Plasmodium falciparum positive samples were tested for genetic mutations in the K13 region that may confer artemisinin resistance. Estimated type-specific malaria PCR prevalence and seroprevalence were calculated, with regression analysis to identify risk factors for seropositivity to P. falciparum. Data were weighted to account for unequal selection probabilities. RESULTS: 1638 participants were sampled (500 households). Weighted PCR prevalence was low (n = 41, 2.5%) and most cases were afebrile (93%). Plasmodium falciparum was the most common species (n = 19. 1.1%) and five (26%) P. falciparum samples harboured K13 mutations. Plasmodium knowlesi was detected in 1.0% (n = 16) and Plasmodium vivax was detected in 0.4% (n = 7). Seroprevalence was 9.4% for P. falciparum and 3.1% for P. vivax. Seroconversion to P. falciparum was 0.003/year in the whole population, but 16-fold higher in men over 23 years old (LR test p = 0.016). DISCUSSION: This is the first population-based seroprevalence study from central Myanmar. Low overall prevalence was discovered. However, these data suggest endemic transmission continues, probably associated with behavioural risk factors amongst working-age men. Genetic mutations associated with P. falciparum artemisinin resistance, the presence of P. knowlesi and discrete demographic risk groups present opportunities and challenges for malaria control. Responses targeted to working-age men, capable of detecting sub-clinical infections, and considering all species will facilitate malaria elimination in this setting