Numerical analysis of respiratory flow patterns within human upper airway

A computational fluid dynamics （CFD） approach is used to study the respiratory airflow dynamics within a human upper airway. The airway model which consists of the airway from nasal cavity, pharynx, larynx and trachea to triple bifurcation is built based on the CT images of a healthy volunteer and the Weibel model. The flow character- istics of the whole upper airway are quantitatively described at any time level of respiratory cycle. Simulation results of respiratory flow show good agreement with the clinical mea- sures, experimental and computational results in the litera- ture. The air mainly passes through the floor of the nasal cavity in the common, middle and inferior nasal meatus. The higher airway resistance and wall shear stresses are distrib- uted on the posterior nasal valve. Although the airways of pharynx, larynx and bronchi experience low shear stresses, it is notable that relatively high shear stresses are distrib- uted on the wall of epiglottis and bronchial bifurcations. Besides, two-dimensional fluid-structure interaction models of normal and abnormal airways are built to discuss the flow-induced deformation in various anatomy models. The result shows that the wall deformation in normal airway is relatively small.

Follicular hyperandrogenism and insulin resistance in polycystic ovary syndrome patients with normal circulating testosterone levels

Polycystic ovary syndrome（PCOS） is a common reproductive disease with high heterogeneity. The role of excess androgen in PCOS etiology remains disputed, since around 20%-50% of PCOS women do not display hyperandrogenemia. The microenvironment of the ovary critically influences follicular development. In the present study, we assessed the role of androgen in PCOS by investigating whether excessive follicular fluid androgen was present in PCOS patients with normal serum androgen levels and influenced by follicular fluid insulin resistance（IR）.Follicular fluid samples of 105 women with PCOS and 105 controls were collected. Levels of steroid hormones,glucose and insulin in the follicular fluid were examined and compared with data from serum biochemistry tests. We found that 64.9%（63/97） of PCOS patients with normal serum androgen levels displayed abnormally high follicular fluid androgen level. The follicular fluid androgen level was positively correlated with follicular fluid IR within a certain range and follicular fluid estrogen-to-testosterone（E2/T） ratio was significantly reduced in these patients.These results indicated that there existed a subgroup of PCOS patients who displayed excessive follicular fluid androgen and IR despite their normal circulating testosterone（T） levels. Our study highlights the importance of ovary hyperandrogenism and IR in the etiology of PCOS.

MECHANISM FOR VISCOELASTIC POLYMER SOLUTION PERCOLATING THROUGH POROUS MEDIA

The pore throat of porous media is modeled as a constricted channel or expanded channel. The flow of viscoelastic polymer solution in pore throat model is studied by numerical method. Relationship between pressure drop and flow rate is developed, viscoelasticity and throat size are found to be two main factors in high flow resistance. According to pore throat model, 2-D stochastic channel bundle is put forward to model porous media, which is composed of pore throat models in series - parallel connection with size and length accord to Hating Greenkorn stochastic distribution. Percolation model of viscoelastic fluid is developed on the basis of Darcy equation and pressure drop vs. flow rate relation in 2-D stochastic channel bundle. Results indicate that the seepage ability of viscoelastic polymer solution decreases with the increase of viscoelasticity, injection rate, and heterogeneity as well as the decrease of mean pore size of porous media. The high pressure drop of viscoelastic fluid at the connection of pore to throat plays a great role in its anomalous high flow resistance through porous media.