Numerical investigation of particle lateral migration in straight channel flows using a direct-forcing immersed boundary method

Inertia-induced cross-stream migration has been recently exploited for precise position of particles in confined channel flows. In this work, a three-dimensional finite volume based immersed boundary method has been developed to study the lateral migration and hydrodynamic self-assembly of neutrally-buoyant particles in pressure-driven flows. Simulation results show that, in 2D channel flows, the equilibrium position for a circular particle is closer to the centreline for larger particle Reynolds number due to the increasing flow rate, while in 3D square duct flow, the equilibrium position for a spherical particle is near a face centre and is closer to the wall for larger particle Reynolds number. Self-assembly of a pair of particles is observed in 3D square duct flows but not in 2D channel flows. Mechanisms for the self-assembly are discussed.     

沙丘背风侧不同铁路结构形式对风沙环境的适应性分析

当铁路穿越大风沙漠地区时,风沙灾害会对铁路工程及其正常运营产生严重威胁,而设计一种合理的铁路结构形式能够减小风沙沉积对铁路工程的危害. 在本文中,以敦煌至格尔木铁路沙山沟段落为研究对象,采用多相流的方法对越过沙丘的风沙运动过程进行数值模拟,分别讨论了风沙运动对位于沙丘背风坡的铁路路基工程和桥梁工程的影响. 主要的模拟结果显示:路基工程明显降低了风速并且将沙丘后的回流区分成了两部分,而桥梁工程的导流效应则压缩了沙丘背风坡的回流区;轨道间的道碴增大了铁路表面的粗糙度,在轨道间有少量沙粒沉积,而路基工程两侧则有大量积沙;铁路表面的积沙量与摩阻风速呈现出非线性关系,随着摩阻风速的增大,路基工程沙粒沉积的增加速度大于风蚀能力的增加速度,而桥梁工程则正好相反. 在防止风沙危害铁路方面,设置桥梁工程明显优于路基工程. 本研究为风沙运动对铁路工程的影响提供了理论支持,也为今后的铁路工程设计提供了新的思路与研究工具.      

垂直旋转流场中单颗粒运动状态判别及受力分析

为研究单颗粒在旋转流场中的运动状态及受力情况,以毫米级球形颗粒为例,利用旋转流场颗粒运动装置,通过使用摄像机记录颗粒在流场中的运动轨迹以获取其运动参数,分析了不同转速和颗粒直径条件下颗粒的运动轨迹,拟合得到了颗粒运动状态判别公式以及颗粒运动轨迹公式,分析了颗粒在旋转流场中的受力情况。结果表明,颗粒在旋转流场平衡状态下运动状态主要分为两类,一类是未离开壁面保持静止,另一类是离开壁面保持稳定周向运动;颗粒进行周向运动的轨迹为椭圆形,并且圆心随着转速的增大靠近旋转中心,而随着粒径的增大靠近壁面;颗粒在旋转流场的运动过程中主要受到离心力和旋转科式力作用。     

Experimental study on age and gender differences in microscopic movement characteristics of students

Campus security has aroused many concerns from the whole society. Stampede is one of the most frequent and influential accidents in campus. Studies on pedestrian dynamics especially focusing on students are essential for campus security, which are helpful to improve facility design and emergency evacuation strategy. In this paper, primary and middle school students were recruited to participate in the single-file experiments. The microscopic movement characteristics,including walking speed, headway, gait characteristics(step length, step frequency and swaying amplitude) and their relations were investigated. Age and gender differences in the headway-speed diagram and space requirements were analyzed by statistical tests. The results indicated that the impacts of age and gender were significant. There were three stages for the influence of gender on the headway-speed diagram for both age groups. The impacts on students' space requirements were consistent for different age and gender groups. But the impacts of age and gender on free-flow speed were affected by each other. Due to the connection of walking speed and gait characteristics, the comparisons of gait characteristics between different ages and genders were performed to understand the corresponding differences in speed more deeply. The results showed that differences in step length and swaying amplitude between males and females were significant for both age groups. The effect of gender on step frequency was significant for primary students. But for middle school students,whether gender had significant impact on step frequency was not clear here because of the large P-value. Besides, the influence of age on gait characteristics changed with gender.     

Decorated DNA-Based Scaffolds as Lateral Flow Biosensors

Here we develop Lateral Flow Assays (LFAs) that employ as functional elements DNA-based structures decorated with reporter tags and recognition elements. We have rationally re-engineered tile-based DNA tubular structures that can act as scaffolds and can be decorated with recognition elements of different nature (i.e. antigens, aptamers or proteins) and with orthogonal fluorescent dyes. As a proof-of-principle we have developed sandwich and competitive multiplex lateral flow platforms for the detection of several targets, ranging from small molecules (digoxigenin, Dig and dinitrophenol, DNP), to antibodies (Anti-Dig, Anti-DNP and Anti-MUC1/EGFR bispecific antibodies) and proteins (thrombin). Coupling the advantages of functional DNA-based scaffolds together with the simplicity of LFAs, our approach offers the opportunity to detect a wide range of targets with nanomolar sensitivity and high specificity.     

Strand displacement amplification for ultrasensitive detection of human pluripotent stem cells

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), such as embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), provide a powerful model system for studies of cellular identity and early mammalian development, which hold great promise for regenerative medicine. It is necessary to develop a convenient method to discriminate hPSCs from other cells in clinics and basic research. Herein, a simple and reliable biosensor for stem cell detection was established. In this biosensor system, stage-specific embryonic antigen-3 (SSEA-3) and stage-specific embryonic antigen-4 (SSEA-4) were used to mark human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). Antibody specific for SSEA-3 was coated onto magnetic beads for hPSCs enrichment, and antibody specific for SSEA-4 was conjugated with carboxyl-modified tDNA sequence which was used as template for strand displacement amplification (SDA). The amplified single strand DNA (ssDNA) was detected with a lateral flow biosensor (LFB). This biosensor is capable of detecting a minimum of 19 human embryonic stem cells by a strip reader and 100 human embryonic stem cells by the naked eye within 80 min. This approach has also shown excellent specificity to distinguish hPSCs from other types of cells, showing that it is promising for specific and handy detection of human pluripotent stem cells.     

Interaction of shock waves during the passage of a disrupted meteoroid through the atmosphere

The motion of fragments following disintegration of a meteoroid during its flight through the Earth's atmosphere is investiated. Shock wave configurations, aerodynamical forces and moments acting on each fragment and the trajectories of the pieces are determined for hypothetical initial configurations. The results of numerical simulations show that a meteoroid's breakup may lead to both increase and decrease of the total cross section, drag forces and energy release in the atmosphere. As a consequence the emitted radiation varies.     

Experimental analysis of sand particles'' lift-off and incident velocities in wind-blown sand flux

The probability distributions of sand particles' lift-off and incident velocities in a wind-blown sand flux play very important roles in the simulation of the wind-blown sand movement. In this paper, the vertical and the horizontal speeds of sand particles located at 1.0 mm above a sand-bed in a wind-blown sand flux are observed with the aid of Phase Doppler Anemometry (PDA) in a wind tunnel. Based on the experimental data, the probability distributions of not only the vertical lift-off speed but also the lift-off velocity as well as its horizontal component and the incident velocity as well as its vertical and horizontal components can be obtained by the equal distance histogram method. It is found, according to the results of the χ²-test for these probability distributions, that the probability density functions (pdf's) of the sand particles' lift-off and incident velocities as well as their vertical components are described by the Gamma density function with different peak values and shapes and the downwind incident and lift-off horizontal speeds, respectively, can be described by the lognormal and the Gamma density functions. These pdf's depend on not only the sand particle diameter but also the wind speed. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10532040) and the Hundred Talents Project, the Knowledge Innovation Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZCX2-304). The English text was polished by Keren Wang.     

平面坡体渐进破坏模型及其应用

平面坡体渐进破坏模型旨在通过在坡体稳定性分析中引进渐进坡坏的概念,来较合理地考虑岩土材料的峰值强度和残余强度在稳定性分析中的不同作用。通过与其它稳定性分析方法进行比较以及实例应用研究,证明该计算模型可用于初步判断坡体稳定状态并估算其破坏变形范围。这一研究也说明了水对边坡破坏的重要作用。     

软弱地层深挖基坑中工程桩偏位分析

某软土地基上建造多栋毗邻的小高层住宅,在地下车库基坑的开挖过程中,软土流动推挤坑内桩基导致偏位。文章以上述工程为背景,借助三维有限差分程序FLAC3D,选取简化计算模型,对基坑开挖流动土体作用下工程桩的反应性状进行了模拟与分析,并与实测值进行了比较,最后讨论了影响桩基变形的相关因素,可为分析软土地区基坑开挖对坑内工程桩影响时提供一定的理论指导。