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A computational model incorporating physiological motion and uniform transient wall deformation of a branchless right coronary artery. (RCA) was developed to assess the influence of artery compliance on wall shear stress (WSS). Arterial geometry and deformation were derived from modem medical imaging techniques, whereas the blood flow was solved numerically employing a moving-grid approach using a well-validated inhouse finite element code. The simulation results indicate that artery compliance affects the WSS in the RCA heterogeneously, with the distal region mostly experiencing these effects. Under physiological inflow conditions, coronary compliance contributed to phase changes in the WSS time history., without affecting the temporal gradient of the local WSS nor the bounds of the WSS magnitude. Compliance does not cause considerable changes to the topology of WSS vector patterns nor to the localization of WSS minima along the RCA. We conclude that compliance is not an important factor affecting local hemodynamics in the proximal region of the RCA while the influence of compliance in the distal region needs to be evaluated in conjunction with the outflow to the myocardium through the major branches of the RCA. [DOI: 10.1115/1.2937744] Keywords: dynamic geometry, coronary, arteries, Navier-Stokes equations, CFD model, moving grid, cardiac CT

The work herein represents a novel approach for the modeling of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) transport from the artery lumen into the arterial wall, taking into account the effects of local wall shear stress (WSS) on the endothelial cell layer and its pathways of volume and solute flux. We have simulated LDL transport in an axisymmetric representation of a stenosed coronary artery, where the endothelium is represented by a three-pore model that takes into account the contributions of the vesicular pathway, normal junctions, and leaky junctions also employing the local WSS to yield the overall volume and solute flux. The fraction of leaky junctions is calculated as a function of the local WSS based on published experimental data and is used in conjunction with the pore theory to determine the transport properties of this pathway. We have found elevated levels of solute flux at low shear stress regions because of the presence of a larger number of leaky junctions compared with high shear stress regions. Accordingly, we were able to observe high LDL concentrations in the arterial wall in these low shear stress regions despite increased filtration velocity, indicating that the increase in filtration velocity is not sufficient for the convective removal of LDL. low-density lipoprotein transport; lipid accumulation; atherosclerosis; leaky junction

The unique ablation characteristics of gold nanoparticle film on polymer obtained by using frequency doubled Nd:YAG (YAG = yttrium aluminum garnet) nanosecond laser are presented. The film could find application in ink-jet printed electrical microconductor.

Anatomic, velocimetric, and brain motion MRI scans were combined with a computational fluid dynamics model to investigate cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) mixing in the third cerebral ventricle of a healthy male adult. It was found that advection dominates over diffusion in most of the third ventricle. Three zones where diffusion plays an important role in the mixing process were identified. One of these zones, consisting of recessus infundibulus, recessus opticus and the adjacent regions up to commissura anterior, is likely to exist in the general population. We hypothesize that this zone may act as a buffer to flatten concentration peaks of pituitary gland hormones released into the CSF of the third ventricle. We further hypothesize that this zone may facilitate the communication between hypothalamus and the pituitary gland through the third ventricle cerebrospinal fluid by prolonging residence times of the communicated hormones. [DOI: 10.1115/1.2768376]

Pulsed laser based curing of a printed nanoink (nonparticale ink) combined with moderate and controlled substrate heating was investigated to create microconductors at low enough temperatures approximate for polymeric substrates. The nanoink was printed on a polymeric substrate that was heated to evaporate the solvent during or after printing where the overall morphology of the gold microline was determined by the printing process and controlled by changing the substrate temperature during jetting.

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the cerebrospinal fluid system was constructed based on a simplified geometry of the brain ventricles and their connecting pathways. The flow is driven by a prescribed sinusoidal motion of the third ventricle lateral walls, with all other boundaries being rigid. The pressure propagation between the third and lateral ventricles was examined and compared to data obtained from a similar geometry with a stenosed aqueduct. It could be shown that the pressure amplitude in the lateral ventricles increases in the presence of aqueduct stenosis. No difference in phase shift between the motion of the third ventricle walls and the pressure in the lateral ventricles because of the aqueduct stenosis could be observed. It is deduced that CFD can be used to analyze the pressure propagation and its phase shift relative to the ventricle wall motion. It is further deduced that only models that take into account the coupling between ventricles, which feature a representation of the original geometry that is as accurate as possible and which represent the ventricle boundary motion realistically, should be used to make quantitative statements on flow and pressure in the ventricular space. [DOI: 10.1115/1.1865191]

Unsteady 3-D numerical simulations and 3-D LDA measurements of an annular jet with a blockage ratio of 0.89 and Reynolds number 4400 am presented. At these flow conditions, the flow inside of the recirculation zone is asymmetric, with a preferential direction. Very good predictions of the velocity fluctuation values are achieved with the unsteady simulation technique in the same region, as the fluctuations are mainly large scale, structure dominated. A frequency near to 10 Hz is identified in the simulations, which is attributed to the principal shedding behavior of the vortical structures. [DOI: 10.1115/1.1760533]